Apr 17

Space Rocket History #59 – Ranger 8-9, and Intelsat I

Posted on April 17, 2014 by spac9750

In total Ranger 9 transmitted 5,814 good contrast photographs during the final 19 minutes of flight. The last image taken before impact had a resolution of 0.3 meters per pixel. The spacecraft encountered the lunar surface after 64.5 hours of flight. Impact occurred at 14:08:19 UT right on target in the Alphonsus crater. Impact velocity was 2.67 km/s. The spacecraft performance was excellent.

Ranger Block 3 Design

Ranger 8 Launch

First Ranger 8 Pic

Sea of Tranquillity

By Dave.

Rilles on Alphonus Crater

Intelsat I (Early Bird)

Delta-D with Intelsat I

Nov 14

Space Rocket History #38 – Syncom 1,2,3, and TIROS 8

Posted on November 14, 2013 by spac9750

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

Geosynchronous satellites have the advantage of remaining permanently in the same area of the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth. Geostationary satellites have the special property of remaining permanently fixed in the exact same position in the sky at all times, meaning that ground-based antennas do not need to track them but can remain fixed in one direction…