GEOS-3
GEOS-3 | |
| Mission type | Geodesy |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1975-027A |
| SATCAT no. | 7734 |
| Website | ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov |
| Mission duration | 50 years, 2 months and 7 days (in orbit) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | GEOS |
| Manufacturer | JHU / APL |
| Launch mass | 346 kilograms (763 lb) |
| Dimensions | 1.32 by 0.81 meters (4.3 ft × 2.7 ft) 6 meters (20 ft) long with boom deployed |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 9 April 1975, 23:58:02 UTC |
| Rocket | Delta 1410 |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W |
| Contractor | NASA |
| End of mission | |
| Deactivated | July 1979 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,208.68 kilometers (4,479.27 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.001273 |
| Perigee altitude | 828 kilometers (514 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 846 kilometers (526 mi) |
| Inclination | 114.98 degrees |
| Period | 101.52 minutes |
| Epoch | 14 January 2014, 03:51:02 UTC |
| Instruments | |
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GEOS-3, or Geodynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite 3, or GEOS-C, was the third and final satellite as part of NASA's Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite/Geodynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite program (NGSP) to better understand and test satellite tracking systems. For GEOS 1 and GEOS 2, the acronym stands for Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite; this was changed for GEOS-3.