![]() ![]() However, at this point a second fault took effect. ![]() In the event that radio guidance was lost, the autopilot was supposed to reject the spurious signals from the antenna and proceed on its stored program. When the received signal became weak and noisy, the vehicle lost its lock on the ground reference that supplied steering commands. Although this is often cited as the exemplar of the loss of a mission to a software error, in fact, as is often the case, two independent faults had interacted fatally.16 The guidance antenna on the Atlas performed below specifications. After a string of successes, Mariner 1 was lost on 22 July when the Atlas flew off course and at T + 293 seconds was destroyed by the range safety officer. With Ranger 3 was able to restart to leave parking orbit, but a guidance fault made the probe miss the Moon by some by 37,000 kilometres. After SAMOS 4 was lost on 22 November, SAMOS 5 was successfully placed into orbit on 22 December but failed to return its film capsule. MIDAS 4 was successfully dispatched on 21 October, but on 18 November Ranger 2 was stranded in parking orbit when an inoperative roll gyroscope prevented the Agena restarting. The next launch on 9 September with SAMOS 3 was a total loss when the vehicle exploded on the pad. On 23 August 1961, on the second mission, the Agena attained low 'parking orbit' and then failed to restart to make the burn that was to insert the Ranger 1 spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit. The Atlas-Agena-B had the MA-3 power plant.15 Of 28 launches between 12 July 1961 and 21 March 1965, eight suffered problems. On 11 October the Agena with the first of the Satellite and Missile Observation System (SAMOS) satellites failed, but the second was launched on 31 January 1961. On the first launch, on 26 February 1960, the Agena with the first satellite for the Missile Defense Alarm System (MIDAS) failed to separate from its booster, but the second was inserted into orbit on 24 May. The Atlas-Agena-A employed the MA-2 power plant.14 Two of four launches failed. As the Agena was stretched to carry more propellant, and its engine was made both more powerful and capable of being restarted in space, it became available in A, B and D models (the planned C model was cancelled). NASA History Program Office, 2018.The decommissioned Atlas-D missiles were fitted with Agena upper stages for use as space launchers. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016. Ranger 3 eventually entered heliocentric orbit. The probe did, however, provide scientists with the first measurements of interplanetary gamma-ray flux. The central computer and sequencer failed and the spacecraft returned no TV images. ![]() A subsequent incorrect course change meant the spacecraft reached the Moon 14 hours early and missed it by about 22,860 miles (36,793 kilometers) on Jan. The primary onboard instrument was a seismometer.īecause of a malfunction in the Atlas guidance system (due to faulty transistors), the probe was inserted into a lunar transfer trajectory with excessive velocity. Protected by a balsa wood outer casing, the capsule was designed to bounce several times on the lunar surface before coming to rest. The spacecraft also carried a 94-pound (42.6-kilogram) capsule that would separate at about 13 miles (21.4 kilometers) in altitude and then independently impact on the Moon. The Block 2 Ranger spacecraft carried a TV camera that used an optical telescope that would allow imaging during its descent down to about 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the surface. attempt to impact a probe on the surface of the Moon. 28, 1962: Mission end date In Depth: Ranger 3 Ranger 3 eventually entered heliocentric orbit.Ītlas Agena B (Atlas Agena B no. A series of malfunctions sent the spacecraft hurtling past the Moon, but it did take the first measurements of interplanetary gamma ray flux. It carried a TV camera and an instrument capsule. Ranger 3 was NASA's first attempt to put a probe on the Moon.
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