Engineering:Discoverer 22

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Short description: Reconnaissance satellite
Discoverer 22
KH-2 CORONA.jpg
Mission typeOptical reconnaissance
OperatorUnited States Air Force /NRO
Mission durationFailed to orbit
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeCorona KH-2
BusAgena-B
ManufacturerLockheed
Launch mass1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date30 March 1961, 20:34:43 (1961-03-30UTC20:34:43Z) UTC
RocketThor DM-21 Agena-B 300
Launch siteVandenberg Air Force Base LC-1 launch pad 75-3-4
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
EpochPlanned
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Discoverer 23 →
 
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Corona 9017 →
The launch of Discoverer 22

Discoverer 22, also known as Corona 9015, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. It was the fourth of ten Corona KH-2 satellites, based on the Agena-B.[1]

The launch of Discoverer 22 occurred at 20:34:43 UTC on 30 March 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from launch pad 75-3-4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base .[2] Due to a malfunction of the rocket's second stage, it failed to achieve orbit.[3]

Discoverer 22 was to have operated in a low Earth orbit. It had a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb),[4] and was equipped with a panoramic camera with a focal length of 61 centimetres (24 in), which had a maximum resolution of 7.6 metres (25 ft).[5] Images were to have been recorded onto 70-millimeter (2.8 in) film, and returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle carried aboard Discoverer 22 was SRV-509.[4]

References

  1. Krebs, Gunter. "KH-2 Corona". Gunter's Space Page. https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kh-2.htm. Retrieved 23 October 2020. 
  2. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. Retrieved 23 June 2010. 
  3. Pike, John (9 September 2000). "KH-2 Corona". Federation of American Scientists. http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/kh-2.htm. Retrieved 23 June 2010. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Wade, Mark. "KH-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121023094149/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/kh2.htm. Retrieved 23 June 2010. 
  5. "Corona". Mission and Spacecraft Library. NASA. Archived from the original on 3 October 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071003082210/http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/Programs/corona.html. Retrieved 23 June 2010.