Back فانغارد 2 Arabic Vanguard 2 Czech Vanguard 2 Finnish Vanguard 2 French Vanguard 2 Galician Vanguard–2 Hungarian Vanguard 2 ID Vanguard 2 Italian Vanguard 2 Malay Vanguard 2 Dutch
 A model of the Vanguard 2 satellite in front of the Goddard Space Flight Center. | |
| Names | Vanguard Space Launch Vehicle-4 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Weather satellite Air Density Experiment |
| Operator | Naval Research Laboratory |
| Harvard designation | 1959 Alpha 1 |
| COSPAR ID | 1959-001A |
| SATCAT no. | 00011 |
| Mission duration | Weather observation: 19 days (achieved) 65 years, 6 months and 17 days (in orbit) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Vanguard 2E |
| Bus | Vanguard |
| Manufacturer | Naval Research Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 10.75 kg (23.7 lb) |
| Dimensions | 50.8 cm (20.0 in) of diameter |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 17 February 1959, 15:55:02 GMT[1] |
| Rocket | Vanguard SLV-4 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-18A |
| Contractor | Glenn L. Martin Company |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 15 March 1959 |
| Decay date | 2259 (estimated) ~ 300 years orbital lifetime [2] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[3] |
| Regime | Medium Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 559 km (347 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 3,320 km (2,060 mi) |
| Inclination | 32.88° |
| Period | 125.80 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| Optical scanner Radio beacon | |
Vanguard 2 (or Vanguard 2E before launch) is an Earth-orbiting satellite launched 17 February 1959 at 15:55:02 GMT, aboard a Vanguard SLV-4 rocket as part of the United States Navy's Project Vanguard.[4] The satellite was designed to measure cloud cover distribution over the daylight portion of its orbit, for a period of 19 days, and to provide information on the density of the atmosphere for the lifetime of its orbit (about 300 years).[5][6] As the first weather satellite and one of the first orbital space missions, the launch of Vanguard 2 was an important milestone in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.[7][8][5] Vanguard 2 remains in orbit.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Displaywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "VANGUARD 2 Satellite details 1959-001A NORAD 11". N2YO. 24 January 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "VANGUARD – A HISTORY, CHAPTER 12, SUCCESS – AND AFTER". NASA. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b "Vanguard Project". U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ NASA, History, Chapter two, SATELLITES Archived 4 November 2004 at the Wayback Machine This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Brian Dunbar. "Interesting Goddard Facts and Firsts". NASA (Goddard). Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Janice Hill (1991). Weather From Above: America's Meteorological Satellites. Smithsonian Institution. pp. 4–7. ISBN 0-87474-394-X.
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