Discoverer 8
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 | |
| Mission type | Optical reconnaissance |
|---|---|
| Operator | US Air Force / NRO |
| Harvard designation | 1959 LAM |
| COSPAR ID | 1959-011A |
| SATCAT no. | S00025 |
| Mission duration | 1 day |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | CORONA KH-1 |
| Bus | Agena-A |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed |
| Launch mass | 835 kilograms (1,841 lb) after orbit insertion |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 20 November 1959 19:25:24 GMT |
| Rocket | Thor DM-21 Agena-A (Thor 212) |
| Launch site | Vandenberg LC 75-3-5 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | 8 March 1960 |
| Landing date | 21 November 1959 (SRV) |
| Landing site | Pacific Ocean (SRV) |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Eccentricity | 0.10197 |
| Perigee altitude | 187 kilometers (116 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 1,679 kilometers (1,043 mi) |
| Inclination | 80.650° |
| Period | 103.70 minutes |
| Epoch | 20 November 1959 |
Discoverer 8, also known as Corona 9005,[1]: 236 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite launched on 20 November 1959 at 19:25:24 GMT, the fifth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series. Overburn by the carrier rocket placed the satellite in a higher apogee, more eccentric orbit than planned, the camera failed to operate, and the film return capsule was lost on reentry after separation from the main satellite on 21 November.
"Discoverer" was the civilian designation and cover for the Corona satellite photo-reconnaissance series of satellites managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force. The primary goal of the satellites was to replace the U-2 spyplane in surveilling the Sino-Soviet Bloc, determining the disposition and speed of production of Soviet missiles and long-range bombers assess. The Corona program was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other US government mapping programs.[2]
The first series of Corona satellites were the Keyhole 1 (KH-1) satellites based on the Agena-A upper stage, which not only offered housing but whose engine provided attitude control in orbit. The KH-1 payload included the C (for Corona) single, vertical-looking, panoramic camera that scanned back and forth, exposing its film at a right angle to the line of flight.[3]: 26 The camera, built by Fairchild Camera and Instrument with a f/5.0 aperture and 61 centimetres (24 in) focal length, had a ground resolution of 12.9 metres (42 ft). Film was returned from orbit by a single General Electric Satellite Return Vehicle (SRV) constructed by General Electric. The SRV was equipped with an onboard small solid-fuel retro motor to deorbit at the end of the mission. Recovery of the capsule was done in mid-air by a specially equipped aircraft.[4]
Discoverer 8 was preceded by four operational missions, as well as three test flights whose satellites carried no cameras, all launched in 1959.[1]: 51–56
Spacecraft
The battery-powered[4] Discoverer 8 was a cylindrical satellite 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter, 5.85 metres (19.2 ft) long and had a mass after second stage separation, including propellants, of roughly 3,850 kilograms (8,490 lb).[5] After orbital insertion, the satellite and SRV together massed 835 kilograms (1,841 lb).[1]: 236 The capsule section of the reentry vehicle was 84 centimetres (33 in) in diameter and 69 centimetres (27 in) long.[6] Like its operational predecessors, Discoverers 4–7, Discoverer 8 carried the C camera for its photosurveillance mission.
The capsule was designed to be recovered by a specially equipped aircraft during parachute descent, but was also designed to float to permit recovery from the ocean. The main spacecraft contained a telemetry transmitter and a tracking beacon.[5]
