Vehicle Missions
| Name | Launch date | Mass (kg) | Apogee (km) | Perigee (km) | Inclination (deg) | NSSDC ID | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samos 1 | Oct. 11, 1960 | 1,845 | -------- | -------- | -------- | 1960-F13, SAMOS-1 | Launch Failure; satellite destroyed |
| Samos 2 | Jan. 31, 1961 | 1,900 | 557 | 474 | 97.4 | 1961-ALPHA-1, 1961-001A | First generation photo surveillance; radio relay of
images; micrometeroid impact data. Decayed 10/21/71 |
| Samos 3 | Sept. 9, 1961 | 1,150 | -------- | -------- | -------- | 1961-F09, SAMOS-3 | Exploded on launch pad |
| Samos 4 | Nov. 22, 1961 | 1,860 | -------- | -------- | -------- | 1961-F13, NNN6101 | Failed to orbit |
| Samos 5 | Dec. 22, 1961 | 1,860 | 244 | 702 | 89.6 | 1961-ALPHA-LAMBDA-2, 1961-035A | Decayed 8/14/62 |
| Samos 6 | March 7, 1962 | 1,860 | 251 | 676 | 90.9 | 1962-ETA-3, 1962-007A | Decayed 6/7/63 |
| Samos 7 | April 26, 1962 | 1,588 | 203 | 204 | 92.0 | 1962-PI, 1962-016A | Decayed 4/28/62 |
| Samos 8 | June 17, 1962 | 1,860 | -------- | -------- | -------- | 1962-PSI, 1962-023A | Decayed 6/18/62 |
| Samos 9 | July 18, 1962 | 1,860 | 184 | 236 | 96.1 | 1962-ZETA, 1962-030A | Decayed 7/25/62 |
| Samos 10 | August 5, 1962 | 1,860 | 205 | 205 | 96.3 | 1962-ALPHA-LAMBDA, 1962-035A | Decayed 8/6/62 |
| Samos 11 | November 11, 1962 | 1,860 | 206 | 206 | 96 | 1962-BETA-PI, 1962-064A | Decayed 11/12/1962 |
| Samos 87 | March 1, 1972 | unk | unk | unk | unk | unk | DOD launch classified. |
From October 1960 to November 1962, at least 11 launch attempts were made. Portions of the program are still considered classified information. It is believed that the program was cancelled because the imagery produced was poor. The program was operated by the United States Air Force, but was overshadowed by the CIA's Corona program.
At least two different generations of the satellite were made, and at least four different types of cameras were used. Early on, the idea was to use frame readout cameras that would take a picture and send the scanned image via radio to ground stations on Earth. This system was apparently troublesome, so the program also developed a photographic film return system where the camera and used film would be ejected and be retrieved as it floated down through the atmosphere by parachute. Film-return satellites would remain the standard until the KH-11 satellite with digital imaging capability emerged in the 1970s.
Read more about this topic: Samos (satellite)
Famous quotes containing the words vehicle and/or missions:
“How strange a vehicle it is, coming down unchanged from times of old romance, and so characteristically black, the way no other thing is black except a coffin—a vehicle evoking lawless adventures in the plashing stillness of night, and still more strongly evoking death itself, the bier, the dark obsequies, the last silent journey!”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.... Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)