Explorer 6
Explorer-6 satellite | |
| Names | S-2 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Earth science |
| Operator | NASA |
| Harvard designation | 1959-Delta 1 |
| COSPAR ID | 1959-004A |
| SATCAT no. | 00015 |
| Mission duration | 60 days (achieved) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Explorer VI |
| Spacecraft type | Science Explorer |
| Bus | S-2 |
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory TRW |
| Launch mass | 64.4 kg (142 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 7 August 1959, 14:24:20 GMT |
| Rocket | Thor DM-18 Able III (Thor 134) |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-17A |
| Contractor | Douglas Aircraft Company |
| Entered service | 7 August 1959 |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 6 October 1959 |
| Decay date | 1 July 1961 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Highly elliptical orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 237 km (147 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 41,900 km (26,000 mi) |
| Inclination | 47.0° |
| Period | 754.0 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| Beacon Fluxgate Magnetometer Ion Chamber and Geiger–Müller Counter Micrometeorite Proportional Counter Telescope Scintillation Counter Search-Coil Magnetometer TV Optical Scanner VLF Receiver | |
Explorer 6, or S-2, was a NASA satellite, launched on 7 August 1959, at 14:24:20 GMT. It was a small, spherical 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. On 14 August 1959, Explorer 6 took the first photos of Earth from a satellite.