Alouette 1
The Alouette 1 satellite
|
|
| Mission type | Ionospheric |
|---|---|
| Operator | DRDC |
| Harvard designation | 1962 Beta Alpha 1 |
| SATCAT № | 424 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | NASA |
| Launch mass | 145.6 kilograms (321 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 29 September 1962, 06:05 UTC |
| Rocket | Thor DM-21 Agena-B |
| Launch site | Vandenberg LC-75-1-1 |
| End of mission | |
| Deactivated | 1972 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,381 kilometres (4,586 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0023678 |
| Perigee | 985 kilometres (612 mi) |
| Apogee | 1,020 kilometres (630 mi) |
| Inclination | 80.4656 degrees |
| Period | 105.18 minutes |
| Epoch | 26 April 2016 03:03:44 UTC |
Alouette 1 is a deactivated Canadian satellite that studied the ionosphere. Launched in 1962, it was Canada's first satellite, and the first satellite constructed by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. Canada was the fourth country to operate a satellite, as the British Ariel 1, constructed in the United States by NASA, preceded Alouette 1 by five months. The name "Alouette" came from the French for "skylark" and the French-Canadian folk song of the same name.
A key device on Alouette were the radio antennas consisting of thin strips of spring steel bent into a slight U-shape and then rolled up into small disks in a fashion similar to a measuring tape. When triggered, the rotation of the satellite created enough centrifugal force to pull the disk away from the spacecraft body, and the shaping of the metal caused it to unwind into a long spiral. The result was a stiff circular cross-section antenna known as a "stem", for "storable tubular extendible member".
Alouette 1 was part of a joint US-Canadian scientific program. Its purpose was to investigate the properties of the top of the ionosphere, and the dependence of those properties on geographical location, season, and time of day. Alouette 1 was advanced for its time, and NASA initially doubted whether the available technology would be sufficient. Nevertheless, NASA was eager to collaborate with international partners. NASA was convinced to participate by the prospect of obtaining data on the ionosphere, and Canada had the additional objective of developing its own space research programme. The United Kingdom also aided the mission by providing support at two ground stations, in Singapore and at Winkfield.
Alouette 1 was launched by NASA from the Pacific Missile Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA at 06:05 UTC on September 29, 1962, into orbit around Earth. It was placed into an almost circular orbit of altitude 987 kilometres (613 mi) to 1,022 kilometres (635 mi) with an inclination of 80.5°. The launch made Canada the third nation, after the USSR and the United States, to design and construct its own satellite.Alouette was used to study the ionosphere, using over 700 different radio frequencies to investigate its properties from above.
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