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Ariel 1, 2 (UK 1, 2)

Ariel 1 [NASA]

Ariel 1 was designed to contribute to the current knowledge of the ionosphere and of sun-ionosphere relationships. The satellite was a 62 kg cylinder with a 58-cm diameter and a height of 22 cm. A tape recorder and instrumentation for one cosmic-ray, two solar emissions, and three ionospheric experiments were on board the satellite. Except for failure at launch of the solar Lyman-alpha experiment, the spacecraft operated nominally until 9 July 1962. Between that date and 8 September 1962, spacecraft operation was limited. The spacecraft was operated again from 25 August 1964, to 9 November 1964, to obtain data concurrent in time with Explorer 20.

Ariel 2 was launched from the Wallops Flight Facility using a Scout-X3 rocket. It carried 3 British experiments to measure galactic radio noise.

Nation: UK, USA
Type / Application: Science
Operator: SERC, NASA
Contractors: Westinghouse Electric (Spacecraft)
Equipment:
Configuration:
Propulsion:
Power: 4 deployable solar arrays, batteries
Lifetime:
Mass: 62 kg (#1), 68 kg (#2)
Orbit: 397 km × 1202 km, 53.86° (#1); 289 km × 1343 km, 51.65° (#2)
Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
Ariel 1 (UK 1, S 51) 1962 ο 1 26.04.1962 CC LC-17A Delta
Ariel 2 (UK 2, S 52) 1964-015A 27.03.1964 WI LA-3 Scout-X3

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