Names | EPE-D NASA S-3C |
---|---|
Mission type | Space physics |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1964-086A |
SATCAT no. | 00963 |
Mission duration | 12 months (planned) 56 years, 8 months and 1 day (achieved) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Explorer XXVI |
Bus | S3 |
Manufacturer | Goddard Space Flight Center |
Launch mass | 45.8 kg (101 lb) [1] |
Power | 4 deployable solar arrays and batteries |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21 December 1964, 09:00:03 GMT |
Rocket | Thor-Delta C (Thor 393 / Delta 027) |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-17A |
Contractor | Douglas Aircraft Company |
Entered service | 21 December 1964 |
End of mission | |
Last contact | 26 May 1967 |
Decay date | 23 August 2021 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[2] |
Regime | Highly elliptical orbit |
Perigee altitude | 171 km (106 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 8,545 km (5,310 mi) |
Inclination | 18.10° |
Period | 184.50 minutes |
Instruments | |
Fluxgate Magnetometers Omnidirectional and Unidirectional Electron and Proton Fluxes Proton-Electron Scintillation Detector Solar Cell Damage Solid-State Electron Detector | |
Explorer Program |
Explorer 26 was a NASA satellite launched on 21 December 1964, as part of NASA's Explorer program. Its primary mission was to study the Earth's magnetic field.[1]