Press Kit: Administration D C 20546
Press Kit: Administration D C 20546
Press Kit
RELEASE NO: 77-110
Contents
GENERAL F E L E A S E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
SPACECRAFT ( G M S ) C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
LAUNCH O P E R A T I O N S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CONTRACTORS....................................... 18
Mailed:
J u n e 7, 1977
C N e w
National Aeronautics and
Space Ad minis t ra t ion
Washington. D C 20546
AC 202 755-8370
Fc lr Release
David G a r r e t t
H e a d q u a r t e r s , Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE
(Phone : 2 0 2 / 7 5 5- 3 0 9 0 1
James Lynch
Goddard S p a c e F l i g h t C e n t e r , S r e e n b e l t , Md.
(Phone : 3 0 1/9 8 2 -6 2 5 5 )
An American r o c k e t , NASA's D e l t a 2 9 1 4 , w i l l l a u n c h
t h e J a p a n e s e Government's f i r s t m e t e o r o l o g i c a l s a t e l l i t e
i n t o s y n c h r o n o u s o r b i t from Cape C a n a v e r a l , F l a . , no
earlier than J u l y 1 4 , 1977.
The Geogynchronous M e t e o r o l o g i c a l S a t e l l i t e ( G M S )
s c i e n t i f i c a t t e m p t t o improve w e a t h e r p r e d i c t i o n s o v e r
m i l l i o n s o f s q u a r e m i l e s i n t h e W e s t e r n P a c i f i c Ocean.
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Md .
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On b o a r d GMS i s a V i s a b l e I n f r a r e d S p i n Scan
Radiometer ( V I S S R ) , c a p a b l e of making h i g h l y a c c u r a t e
p i c t u r e s of t h e E a r t h ' s c l o u d c o v e r i n d a y l i g h t and
m i t t e d t o E a r t h e v e r y 30 m i n u t e s , w i l l e n a b l e
m e t e o r o l o g i s t s t o i d e n t i f y , m o n i t o r and t r a c k s e v e r e
s t o r m s , heavy r a i n f a l l o r c l o u d b u r s t s , f l o o d s and
typhoons.
a l p h a p a r t i c l e s and s o l a r e l e c t r o n s .
A s o l i d motor a t t a c h e d t o t h e GMS s p a c e c r a f t
w i l l be f i r e d a b o u t 27 h o u r s a f t e r l i f t - o f f to inject
t h e s p a c e c r a f t i n t o i t s f i n a l p o s i t i o n above t h e
equator.
o r b i t monitoring of t h e s p a c e c r a f t .
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monitor.
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lifetime.
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support.
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SPACECRAFT ( G M S ) CHARACTERISTICS
GMS i s c y l i n d r i c a l i n s h a p e , 3 meters ( 9 f e e t )
t a l l , weighs 280 k i l o g r a m s ( 6 2 q pounds) i n synchronous
o r b i t a n d h a s a d e s i g n e d l i f e t i m e o f more t h a n f i v e y e a r s .
L i f e t i m e i s l i m i t e d p r i m a r i l y by t h e amount of h y d r a z i n e
f u e l t h a t can be c a r r i e d aboard t o p r o v i d e c o n t r o l i n o r b i t .
F u l l r e d u n d a n c y o f a l l m i s s i o n - c r i t i c a l f u n c t i o n s i s pro-
vided t o ensure e l e c t r o n i c s lifetimes s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n
excess of f i v e years. The s o l a r p a n e l power o f 2 2 5 w a t t s
i n c l u d e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 30 w a t t s m a r g i n a t t h e e n d of f i v e
years.
Dominant f e a t u r e s of t h e s D a c e c r a f t a r e a l a r g e
s u n s h a d e f o r t h e V I S S R camera a p e r t u r e , a 216-cm ( 7 . 1 f t . )
d i a m e t e r c y l i n d r i c a l s o l a r a r r a y and a n S band/UHF d e s p u n
antenna.
Image c a p a b i l i t y o f t h e s a t e l l i t e i s p r o v i d e d by
t h e VISSR, w h i c h i s d e r i v e d f r o m t h e s p a c e - p r o v e d U n i t e d
States Synchronous M e t e o r o l o g i c a l S a t e l l i t e i n s t r u m e n t
already i n o r b i t . The VISSR p r o v i d e s s i m u l t a n e o u s
o p e r a t i o n o f f o u r v i s i b l e l i g h t d e t e c t o r s and o n e i n f r a r e d
detector.
The SEM i n s t r u m e n t , d e s i g n e d a n d c o n s t r u c t e d by
Nippon E l e c t r i c C o . , i s a new d e s i g n c o n t a i n i n g f i v e
d e t e c t o r s f o r multi-mode s o l a r p a r t i c l e c o u n t i n g .
Microminiaturization of e l e c t r o n i c s f o r t h e
c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s u b - s y s t e m r e p e a t e r d e s i g n f o r S band a n d
UHF o p e r a t i o n i s a c h i e v e d by u s i n g t h e l a t e s t microwave
integrated c i r c u i t design techniques.
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VISSR MISSION
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A s t h e satellite s p i n s , both i n f r a r e d d e t e c t o r s
a n d t h e two s e t s o f v i s i b l e d e t e c t o r s a r e s w e p t o v e r t h e
s a m e Earth track, providing redundant s i g n a l s , i n c r e a s i n g
r e l i a b i l i t y a n d p e r m i t t i n g c o r r e l a t i o n o f i n f r a r e d and
v i s i b l e image d a t a . The r e l a t i v e a r r a n g e m e n t o f t h e i n -
f r a r e d and v i s i b l e s p e c t r u m d e t e c t o r s i n t h e VISSR f o c a l
p l a n e , where t h e image of t h e E a r t h i s f o r m e d , i s shown
i n the figures.
GMS LAUNCH P R O F I L E
The f i r s t two s t a g e s o f t h e D e l t a 2 9 1 4 p l a c e t h e
s p a c e c r a f t i n a low a l t i t u d e p a r k i n g o r b i t 1 7 4 km ( 1 0 8 m i . )
a t 2 7 . 2 d e g r e e s i n c l i n a t i o n near t h e f i r s t e q u a t o r i a l
crossing. S p i n u p t o 5 0 rpm, f o l l o w e d by i n j e c t i o n i n t o
a t r a n s f e r o r b i t using the D e l t a t h i r d stage, occurs a f t e r
a few m i n u t e s i n p a r k i n g o r b i t .
I f s p a c e c r a f t o p e r a t i o n i s n o r m a l , t h e GMS w i l l b e
b o o s t e d i n t o s y n c h r o n o u s o r b i t when t h e s p a c e c r a f t a p o g e e
motor i s f i r e d a t t h e t h i r d a p o g e e ( a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 7 h o u r s
after lift-off). For a nominal t r a n s f e r o r b i t , t h e
s u b s a t e l l i t e longitude a t t h i s t i m e is 1 4 1 degrees E , t h a t
i s , o n l y 1 d e g r e e from t h e f i n a l o r b i t a l s t a t i o n .
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F i r s t Stage
Second S t a g e
Third Staqe
The t h i r d s t a g e i s t h e TE-3-64-4 s p i n - s t a b i l i z e d , s o l i d
p r o p e l l a n t Thiokol motor. I t i s secured i n t h e spin t a b l e
mounted t o t h e s e c o n d s t a g e . The f i r i n g o f e i g h t s o l i d p r o -
p e l l a n t r o c k e t s f i x e d t o t h e s p i n t a b l e accomplishes spinup
of t h e t h i r d s t a g e s p a c e c r a f t assembly.
I n j e c t i o n I n t o Synchronous O r b i t
The D e l t a v e h i c l e w i l l i n j e c t GMS i n t o a t r a n s f e r o r b i t
h a v i n g a n a p o g e e of 36,655 km ( 2 2 , 7 7 6 m i . ) , a p e r i g e e o f 1 7 4
km ( 1 0 8 m i . ) a n d i n c l i n a t i o n of 2 7 . 2 d e g r e e s . NASA's S p a c e -
f l i g h t T r a c k i n g and D a t a Network w i l l p r o v i d e t e l e m e t r y ,
t r a c k i n g and r a n g i n g s u p p o r t u n t i l t h e s p a c e c r a f t i s p l a c e d
i n i t s f i n a l s y n c h r o n o u s o r b i t a t 1 4 0 d e g r e e s E. Command,
c o n t r o l , t r a c k i n g and d a t a a n a l y s i s a r e t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s
o f NASDA and Huqhes A i r c r a f t C o .
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First Stage
(Liquid Only) consists of an extended long-tank Thor,
produced by McDonnell Douglas. The RS-27 engines are produced
by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International. The
stage has the following characteristics:
Diameter: 2.4 m ( 8 ft.)
Height: 21.3 m (70 ft.)
Propellants: RJ-1 kerosene as the fuel and liquid
oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer
Thrust: 912,000 N (205,000 lb.)
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Second Stage
Produced by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., using
a TRW TR-201 rocket engine. Major contractors for the vehicle
inertial guidance system located on the second stage are
Hamilton Standard, Teledyne and Delco.
Propellants: Liquid, consists of Aerozene 50 for the
fuel and nitrogen tetroxide (N 0 ) for
the oxidizer. 2 4
Third Stage
. Thiokol Chemical Corp. TE-364-4 motor.
Propellant: Solid
Height: 1.4 m (4.5 ft.)
Diameter: 1 m (3 ft.)
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LAUNCH OPERATIONS
Delta 1 3 2 w i l l be l a u n c h e d f r o m Pad B , s o u t h e r n m o s t of
t h e t w o l a u n c h p a d s a t Complex 1 7 , Cape C a n a v e r a l A i r Force
Station, Fla.
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TYPICAL LAUNCH SEQUENCE FOR GMS/DELTA 132
Altitude Velocity
Event Time Kilometers/Miles Km/Hr MPh
Liftoff 0 sec. 0 0 0 0
Second Stage Cutoff (SECO-11) 21 min. 24 sec. 169 105 27 I 103 16 ,841
NASA H e a d q u a r t e r s
John F. Y a r d l e y Associate A d m i n i s t r a t o r
f o r Space F l i g h t
Goddard SDace F l i c r h t C e n t e r
C h a r l e s R. Gunn D e 1t a P r o j e c t Manager
W i l l i a m R. Russell Deputy D e l t a P r o j e c t
Manager, T e c h n i c a l
W i l l i a m R. Burrowbridge D e l t a Mission I n t e g r a t i o n
Manager
Kennedy Space C e n t e r
L e e R. Scherer Director
NASDA
A k i y o s h i Matsuura V i c e President
Masayoshi N o j i m a E x e c u t i v e Director
CONTRACTORS
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