Sputnik III
| Organization: | Soviet Union |
| Major Contractors: | Korolev Design Bureau |
| Mission Type: | Earth Science |
| Satellite of: | Earth |
| Launch: | May 15, 1958 at 07:12:00 UTC |
| Launch Vehicle: | modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM |
| Decay: | April 6, 1960 |
| Mission Duration: | 692 days |
| Mass: | 1,327 kg |
| NSSDC ID: | 1958-004B |
| Webpage: | NASA NSSDC Master Catalog |
| Orbital elements | |
|---|---|
| Semimajor Axis: | 7418.7 km |
| Eccentricity: | .110932 |
| Inclination: | 65.18° |
| Orbital Period: | 105.9 minutes |
| Apogee: | 1,864 km |
| Perigee: | 217 km |
| Orbits: | ~10,000 |
| Instruments | |
| Upper Atmosphere : | Composition of the upper atmosphere |
| Geiger counters : | Charged particles |
| Micrometeoriod detectors : | Micrometeoriods |
| Table of contents |
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2 External link |
Mission profile
Sputnik 3 was a Soviet satellite launched on May 15 1958 from Baikonur cosmodrome by a modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM. It was a research satellite to explore the upper atmosphere and the near space. Due to a hardware failure of it's tape recorder, the satellite failed to detect the Van Allen radiation belt.
In July 1956, the Soviet Union's OKB-1 drafted a project to design and build first earth satellite, designated ISZ (Artificial Earth Satellite). Sputnik 3 was planned to be that first satellite launched by the Soviet Union. The new R-7 ICBM was ready to launch before Sputnik 3 was ready. The Sputnik 3 completion date kept slipping and Sergi Korolev substituted the relatively simple Sputnik 1 as the first satellite to be launched, instead. The Sputnik 2 was also ready earlier and launched earlier than Sputnik 3. Korolev was concerned that if he waited for Sputnik 3 to be ready, the United States would be the first to launch an artificial satellite.
Sputnik 3 was an automatic scientific laboratory spacecraft. It was conically-shaped and was 3.57 m long and 1.73 m wide at it's base. It weighed 1,327 kg. The scientific instrumentation (twelve instruments) provided data on pressure and composition of the upper atmosphere, concentration of charged particles, photons in cosmic rays, heavy nuclei in cosmic rays, magnetic and electrostatic fields, and meteoric particles. The outer radiation belts of the Earth were detected during the flight. It's tape recorder failed, so it could not map the The spacecraft remained in orbit until April 6, 1960.
See also
External link
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Sputnik 2 Sputnik program
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Sputnik 4