Delta-Star (Delta-183)

Delta-Star (Delta-183) [SDIO]

The program's name, Delta 183, was derived from the designation of the launch vehicle; the spacecraft itself was called Delta Star. It consisted of two sections: the McDonnell Douglas orbital operations control assembly mated to the sensor module. The instruments were boresighted together parallel to the axis of the module; pointing was provided by the spacecraft's attitude-control system. The sensor ensemble included

• an infrared imager, operating much like a video camera in any of three spectral bands in the short- to mid-wave region
• a long-wave infrared imager adapted from the guidance and control section of a Maverick missile
• an ensemble of three imagers and four photometers, which produced imagery and intensity data in several visible and ultraviolet bands
• an ultraviolet-intensified CCD (charge- coupled device) video camera
• a laser detection and ranging device

Delta Star was launched on March 24, 1989, into a circular orbit of 48-degree inclination and about 360-kilometer altitude. This orbit provided for a repeating ground trace every five revolutions to pass near Cape Canaveral, Florida, and other ground sites to facilitate the observations of "targets of opportunity" and other experiments. The satellite was deactivated the following December 27.