Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
14:24:20
Friday August 7, 1959
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Explorer 6 was a small, spheroidal satellite designed to study trapped radiation of various energies, galactic cosmic rays, geomagnetism, radio propagation in the upper atmosphere, and the flux of micrometeorites. It also tested a scanning device designed for photographing the Earth's cloud cover, and transmitted the first pictures of Earth via satellite.
Highly Elliptical Orbit
1 Payload
64 kilograms
4th
Mission
1st
Mission of 1959
12th
Orbital launch attempt