Pegasus 2

Pegasus 2 was a Pegasus spacecraft, consisting of 1,450 kilograms (3,200 lb) of instruments, attached to the S-IV upper stage of the carrier rocket which had placed it into orbit.[1] It had a total mass of 9,058 kilograms (19,969 lb),[2] and was equipped with two sets of micrometeoroid detection panels, and a radio for tracking and returning data.[1] The panels were 29 metres (95 ft) long, and equipped with 116 individual detectors.[3]

The launch of Pegasus 2

Pegasus 2 was launched atop a Saturn I rocket, serial number SA-8,[4] flying from Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. The launch occurred at 07:35:01 UTC on 25 May 1965.[5] Following launch, Pegasus 2 was given the COSPAR designation 1965-039A, whilst NORAD assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 01381.[6]

Pegasus 2 was a secondary payload on the carrier rocket, which was carrying a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, Apollo 104 or BP-26,[5] as part of a series of configuration tests for the Apollo program. The Apollo boilerplate acted as a payload fairing for the Pegasus spacecraft, which was stored inside what would have been the Service Module of a functional spacecraft. Upon reaching orbit, the boilerplate Command and Service modules were jettisoned.[1] Boilerplate separation occurred 806 seconds after liftoff, with Pegasus 2's detectors being deployed one minute later. The predicted orbital lifetime of Pegasus 2 was 1220 days.

Pegasus 2 was operated in a low Earth orbit. On 3 July 1965 it was catalogued as being in an orbit with a perigee of 508 kilometers (274 nmi) and an apogee of 737 kilometers (398 nmi), inclined at 31.7 degrees to the equator and with a period of 97.15 minutes.[7] Once in orbit, the panels were deployed to detect micrometeoroid impacts. Experiment results were returned to Earth by radio.[1] The spacecraft operated until 29 August 1968, and subsequently remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 3 November 1979.[7]

• 1965 in spaceflight