Vanguard 3 is a scientific satellite that was launched into Earth orbit by a Vanguard rocket SLV-7 on September 18, 1959, the third successful Vanguard launch out of eleven attempts. Vanguard rocket: Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle 7 (SLV-7) was an unused Vanguard TV-4BU (TV4-BU = Test Vehicle four Back up) rocket, updated to the final production Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV).
Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company (now Lockheed-Martin), which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket.[5] as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. Vanguard 3 was an important part of the space race between the US and the Soviet Union.
Mission Objectives:
The satellite was launched from the Eastern Test Range into a geocentric orbit. The objectives of the flight were to measure the Earth's magnetic field, the solar X-ray radiation and its effects on the Earth's atmosphere, and the near-Earth micrometeoroid environment. Instrumentation included a proton magnetometer, X-ray ionization chambers, and various micrometeoroid detectors. The spacecraft was a 50.8-cm-diameter magnesium sphere. The magnetometer was housed in a fiberglass/phenolic resin conical tube attached to the sphere. Data transmission stopped on December 11, 1959, after 84 days of operation. The data obtained provided a comprehensive survey of the Earth's magnetic field over the area covered, defined the lower edge of the Van Allen radiation belt, and provided a count of micrometeoroid impacts. Vanguard 3 has an expected orbital lifetime of 300 years.
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