NSSDCA ID: EXS-46
Explorer (S-46) was launched using a Juno II rocket. Its mission was to analyze electron and proton radiation energies in a highly elliptical orbit. Launch took place at 13:35:11 UT on 23 March 1960 from Cape Canaveral. Telemetry was lost shortly after the first stage burnout and one of the upper stages failed to fire. The spacecraft did not achieve orbit.
Explorer S-46 was a joint Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) / NASA-JPL mission. The payload detector experiments were developed by the State University of Iowa. The detector assembly comprised five instruments: a CdS broom low-energy proton detector, a CdS low-energy particle detector; an electron spectrometer; a Geiger-Muller high-energy particle counter; and a Geiger-Muller medium energy particle counter. These were housed in the front of the Sergeant rocket that comprised the fourth (upper) stage of the Juno II launch vehicle.
The four-stage Juno II launch vehicle used a Jupiter missile engine as the first stage. The second stage was assembled as a circumferential "tub" of 11 scaled-down Sergeant rockets (solid propellant), the third stage was assembled as three scaled-down Sergeant rockets nested in the center of the "tub", and a single modified Sergeant rocket and casing comprising the fourth stage was mounted on top of this.
Launch Date: 1960-03-23
Launch Vehicle: Juno 2 (Juno II)
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 15.7 kg
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams
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