![]() A model of Vanguard 1 | |
Names | Vanguard TV-4 Vanguard Test Vehicle-Four |
---|---|
Mission type | Earth science |
Operator | Naval Research Laboratory |
Harvard designation | 1958-Beta 2 [1] |
COSPAR ID | 1958-002B |
SATCAT no. | 00005 |
Mission duration | 90 days (planned) 66 years, 5 months and 8 days (elapsed) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Vanguard 1 |
Spacecraft type | Vanguard |
Manufacturer | Naval Research Laboratory |
Launch mass | 1.46 kg (3.2 lb) |
Dimensions | 152 mm (6.0 in) diameter, 3.0 ft (0.91 m) antenna span |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 17 March 1958, 12:15:41 GMT |
Rocket | Vanguard TV-4 |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-18A |
Contractor | Glenn L. Martin Company |
End of mission | |
Last contact | May 1964 |
Decay date | 2198 (estimated) ~ 240 years orbital lifetime [1] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[2] |
Regime | Medium Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 654 km (406 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 3,969 km (2,466 mi) |
Inclination | 34.25° |
Period | 134.27 minutes |
Vanguard 1 (Harvard designation: 1958-Beta 2,[3] COSPAR ID: 1958-002B[1]) is an American satellite that was the fourth artificial Earth-orbiting satellite to be successfully launched, following Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2, and Explorer 1. It was launched 17 March 1958. Vanguard 1 was the first satellite to have solar electric power.[4] Although communications with the satellite were lost in 1964, it remains the oldest human-made object still in orbit, together with the upper stage of its launch vehicle.[1]
Vanguard 1 was designed to test the launch capabilities of a three-stage launch vehicle as a part of Project Vanguard, and the effects of the space environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit. It also was used to obtain geodetic measurements through orbit analysis.[5] Vanguard 1, being small and light enough to carry with one hand, was described by the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, as "the grapefruit satellite".[6]
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