The Gravity Gradient Test Satellite was launched by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

from Cape Canaveral LC41 aboard a

Titan IIIC The Titan IIIC was an expendable launch system used by the United States Air Force from 1965 until 1982. It was the first Titan booster to feature large solid rocket motors and was planned to be used as a launcher for the Dyna-Soar, though the s ...

rocket on June 16, 1966, at 14:00:01 UTC. The satellite was launched along with seven

IDCSP The Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program or IDCSP was the first United States Department of Defense communications satellite constellation and the first stage of the Defense Communications Satellite Program (DCSP). Launched in five ...

satellites, with which it shared a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

. In contrast to the solar-powered IDCSP satellites, GGTS was battery powered. GGTS utilized the Magnetically Anchored Gravity Systems (MACS), which consisted of two identical subsystem packages, each containing an extensible rod unit and a magnetically anchored spherical viscous damper. The rod units had an extended length of , and their damper tip weights gave the satellite a symmetric dumbbell configuration. The dampers were produced by General Electric and consisted of two concentric spheres separated by a viscous damping fluid. The internal sphere contained a hollow cylindrical magnet which served to "anchor' the inner sphere to the Earth's magnetic field, stabilizing the satellite over time. It had been hoped that within 60 days of launch, the satellite would reach a stabilization of ±8° on the x- and y-axis. The results were compromised, as one of the dampers was magnetically contaminated. A follow-up GGTS mission was lost due to a launch vehicle failure on August 28, 1966.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1966 Spacecraft launched in 1966 Spacecraft launched by Titan rockets

See also

References