Pioneer 0
 |
|
| Mission type | Lunar orbiter |
|---|---|
| Operator | United States Air Force |
| Mission duration | 73.6 seconds Failed to orbit |
| Apogee | 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | TRW Space Technology Laboratories |
| Launch mass | 83.8 pounds (38.0 kg) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | August 17, 1958, 12:18 UTC |
| Rocket | Thor DM-18 Able I |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-17A |
| Instruments | |
| Television camera, magnetometer, micrometeoroid impact detector | |
Pioneer 0 (also known as Thor-Able 1) was a failed United States space probe that was designed to go into orbit around the Moon, carrying a television camera, a micrometeorite detector and a magnetometer, as part of the first International Geophysical Year (IGY) science payload. It was designed by the United States Air Force (USAF) as the first satellite in the Pioneer program and was one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country, but the rocket failed shortly after launch. The probe was intended to be called Pioneer (or Pioneer 1), but the launch failure precluded that name.
The spacecraft consisted of a thin cylindrical midsection with a squat truncated cone frustum of 6.5 inches (17 cm) high on each side. The cylinder was 29 inches (74 cm) in diameter and the height from the top of one cone to the top of the opposite cone was 76 cm. Along the axis of the spacecraft and protruding from the end of the lower cone was an 11 kilograms (24 lb) solid propellant injection rocket and rocket case, which formed the main structural member of the spacecraft. Eight small low-thrust solid propellant velocity adjustment rockets were mounted on the end of the upper cone in a ring assembly which could be jettisoned after use. A magnetic dipole antenna also protruded from the top of the upper cone. The shell was composed of laminated plastic and was painted with a pattern of dark and light stripes to help regulate temperature.
The scientific instrument package had a mass of 11.3 kilograms (25 lb) and consisted of:
The spacecraft was powered by nickel-cadmium batteries for ignition of the rockets, silver cell batteries for the television system, and mercury batteries for the remaining circuits. Radio transmission was on 108.06 MHz, a standard frequency used by satellites in the International Geophysical Year, through an electric dipole antenna for telemetry and doppler information and a magnetic dipole antenna for the television system. Ground commands were received through the electric dipole antenna at 115 MHz. The spacecraft was to be spin-stabilized at 1.8 revolutions per second, the spin direction approximately perpendicular to the geomagnetic meridian planes of the trajectory.
...
Wikipedia