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Castor (D 5B)
Castor (D-5B) [CNES]
The French Castor (D-5B) spacecraft had a 26-face polyhedron shape with a diameter of 80 cm. The primary mission objective was to study the upper atmosphere density variations. Secondary objectives included a study of gravity field perturbations and a study of micrometeorite impacts. A three-axis magnetometer was used to provide attitude information. Each one of the spacecraft faces contained a laser reflector. Data were measured either every 0.1 s or every 2.8 s. The data transmission rate was 1024 bits/s from the tape recorder and either 256 or 512 bits/s directly from telemetry. Operations were conducted by the operations center in Toulouse using the CNES network of telemetry and telecommand stations.
| Nation: | France |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Science |
| Operator: | CNES |
| Contractors: | |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | |
| Propulsion: | |
| Power: | Solar cells, batteries |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | 76 kg |
| Orbit: | 272 km × 1271 km, 29.9° |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castor (D 5B) | 1973-F02 | 21.05.1973 | Ko ELD | F | Diamant-B | with Pollux (D 5A) |
| Castor (D 5B) | 1975-039B | 17.05.1975 | Ko ELD | Diamant-BP4 | with Pollux (D 5A) |
Further D missions:
