NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

DAD Explorer A & B

Launch Time
Sat Dec 06, 1975 03:35 UTC

Last flight of Scout F1.

Rocket

Scout F1
US Air Force
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 622 kN
Payload to LEO: 193 kg
Payload to GTO: 0 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 21.0 m

Mission Details

DAD Explorer A & B

The DAD A (Dual Air Density Explorer-A) satellite was a 0.76 m rigid sphere designed to determine, in conjunction with DAD B (Dual Air Density Explorer-B), the vertical structure of the upper thermosphere and the lower exosphere as a function of latitude, season, and local solar time. Both satellites would have been launched by a single Scout-F1 launch vehicle into coplanar polar orbits. Measurements of atmospheric density from DAD-A would have been obtained from satellite drag analyses near perigee (approximately 350 km) and from composition measurements taken by an onboard mass spectrometer. DAD-A was equipped with a radio beacon to facilitate tracking.

Payloads: 2
Total Mass: 49.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

SLC-5, Vandenberg SFB, California, USA

Stats

1975

120th orbital launch attempt

Scout

75th mission
3rd mission of 1975
62nd successful mission
24th consecutive successful mission