June 10th - Cape Canaveral (INN)
Cape Canaveral, Florida -- Director Dickinson, Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gave a press conference today about the launches scheduled for the 7th and the 9th of this month.
"On June 7th, the United States launched Explorer 7. The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida at 15:36:00 UTC by a Juno II rocket to an orbit of 356 miles perigee by 667 miles apogee, with an inclination of 50.27°.
"It is designed to measure solar x-ray and Lyman-alpha flux, trapped energetic particles, and heavy primary cosmic rays. Also, the secondary objectives include collecting data on micrometeoroid penetration, molecular sputtering, and studying the earth-atmosphere heat balance.
"On June 9th, Ham, a male chimpanzee, was secured in a Project Mercury mission capsule labeled MR-2 and launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a sub-orbital flight. Ham had his vital signs and tasks monitored using computers on Earth.
The capsule suffered a partial loss of pressure during the flight, but Ham's space suit prevented him from suffering any harm.
Ham's lever-pushing performance in space was only a fraction of a second slower than on Earth, demonstrating that tasks could be performed in space. Ham's capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by a rescue ship later that day. He only suffered a bruised nose.
His flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long."
David Richlen
Science Desk, International News Network
Below are the statistics on the rockets and satellite:
The Juno-II is an orbital satellite launcher derived from the Jupiter IRBM. It is a basic four stage vehicle consisting of 1 x S-3D, 11 x Sergeants Cluster stage, 3 x Sergeants Cluster stage, 1 Sergeant
SizeHeight: 78.7 feet
Diameter: 8.76 feet
Mass: 121,500 lbs
Stages: 4
Capacity Payload to LEO: 90 lbs
PerformanceFirst Stage: Jupiter
Engines: 1x Rocketdyne S3-D
Thrust: 170,563 lbf
Specific Impulse: 282 s
Burn Time: 182 s
Fuel: LOX / Kerosene
Second Stage: Sergeant Cluster
Engines: 11x Sergeant motors
Thrust: 1,497 lbf Each
Specific Impulse: 285 s
Burn Time: 6 s
Fuel: Solid - polysulfide-aluminum and ammonium perchlorate
Third Stage: Sergeant Cluster
Engines: 3x Sergeant Motors
Thrust: 1,497 lbf Each
Specific Impulse: 285 s
Burn Time: 6 s
Fuel: Solid - polysulfide-aluminum and ammonium perchlorate
Fourth Stage: Sergeant
Engines: 1x Sergeant Motor
Thrust: 1,497 lbf
Specific Impulse: 285 s
Burn Time: 6 s
Fuel: Solid - polysulfide-aluminum and ammonium perchlorate
The Redstone is a Sub-Orbital launcher. It is a basic single stage vehicle consisting of 1 Rocketdyne A-6 motor.
SizeHeight: 83.38 feet
Diameter: 5.83 feet
Mass: 66,000 lbs
Stages: 1
Capacity Payload to Sub-Orbital: 4,000 lbs
PerformanceFirst Stage: Redstone
Engines: 1x Rocketdyne A-6
Thrust: 82,595 lbf
Specific Impulse: 265 s
Burn Time: 155 s
Fuel: LOX / Alcohol
Explorer-7Operator: NASA
Major contractors: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mission type: Earth science
Launch date: June 7, 1957 at 14:23 UTC
Launch vehicle: Juno-II
Mass: 90 lbs
Orbital elements Eccentricity: 0.034693
Inclination: 50.27°
Apoapsis: 667 miles
Periapsis: 356 miles
Orbital period: 101.38 minutes