 OSCAR 1 | |
| Mission type | Communications |
|---|---|
| Operator | Project OSCAR / |
| Harvard designation | 1961 Alpha Kappa 2 |
| COSPAR ID | 1961-034B |
| SATCAT no. | 214 |
| Mission duration | 20 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 10.0 kilograms (22.0 lb) |
| Dimensions | 15.2 by 25.4 by 33 centimeters (6.0 in × 10.0 in × 13.0 in) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 12 December 1961, 20:40 UTC |
| Rocket | Thor DM-21 Agena-B |
| Launch site | Vandenberg LC-75-3-4 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | 31 January 1962 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Eccentricity | 0.01698 |
| Perigee altitude | 245 kilometers (152 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 474 kilometers (295 mi) |
| Inclination | 81.20 degrees |
| Period | 91.1 minutes |
OSCAR 1 (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio 1, also known as OSCAR 1) is the first amateur radio satellite launched by Project OSCAR into low Earth orbit. OSCAR I was launched December 12, 1961, by a Thor-DM21 Agena B launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. The satellite, a rectangular box (30 x 25 x 12 cm) weighing 10 kg., was launched as a secondary payload (ballast) for Corona 9029, also known as Discoverer 36, the eighth and final launch of a KH-3 satellite.[1]
The satellite had a battery-powered 140 mW transmitter operating in the 2-meter band (144.983 MHz), employed a monopole transmitting antenna 60 cm long extended from the center of the convex surface, but had no attitude control system. Like Sputnik 1, Oscar 1 carried only a simple beacon. For three weeks it transmitted its Morse Code message "HI". To this day, many organizations identify their Morse-transmitting satellites with "HI", which also indicates laughter in amateur telegraphy like LOL.[2]
OSCAR I lasted 22 days ceasing operation on January 3, 1962, and re-entered January 31, 1962.[3][4]
After the launch of OSCAR 1, United States Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, honored it with a telegram that read: "For me this project is symbolic of the type of freedom for which this country stands — freedom of enterprise and freedom of participation on the part of individuals throughout the world."[5]
- ^ "Discoverer 36". NASA National Space Science Data Center. 30 June 1977. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ Collister, Lauren B. (20 May 2024). "LOL in the age of the telegraph". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Oscar 1". NASA National Space Science Data Center. 30 June 1977. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ "OSCAR 1". Gunter's Space Page. 31 December 1999. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962. Report of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Committee on Science and Astronautics, 88th Congress (Report). 12 June 1963.