 The Alouette 1 satellite | |
| Mission type | Ionospheric |
|---|---|
| Operator | DRDC |
| Harvard designation | 1962 Beta Alpha 1 |
| COSPAR ID | 1962-049A |
| SATCAT no. | 424 |
| Mission duration | Final: 10 years and 1 day |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment |
| Launch mass | 145.6 kilograms (321 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | September 29, 1962, 06:05 UTC |
| Rocket | Thor DM-21 Agena-B |
| Launch site | Vandenberg LC-75-1-1 |
| End of mission | |
| Deactivated | September 30, 1972 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,381 kilometres (4,586 mi)[1] |
| Eccentricity | 0.00243[2] |
| Perigee altitude | 996 kilometres (619 mi)[2] |
| Apogee altitude | 1,032 kilometres (641 mi)[2] |
| Inclination | 80.500 degrees[2] |
| Period | 105.50 minutes[2] |
| Epoch | 29 September 1962 06:05:00 UTC[2] |
Alouette 1 is a deactivated Canadian satellite that studied the ionosphere. Launched in 1962, it was Canada's first satellite, and the first satellite constructed by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. Canada was the fourth country to operate a satellite, as the British Ariel 1, constructed in the United States by NASA, preceded Alouette 1 by five months.[3] The name "Alouette" came from the French for "skylark"[4] and the French-Canadian folk song of the same name.
A key device on Alouette were the radio antennas consisting of thin strips of beryllium copper bent into a slight U-shape and then rolled up into small disks in a fashion similar to a measuring tape. When triggered, the rotation of the satellite created enough centrifugal force to pull the disk away from the spacecraft body, and the shaping of the metal caused it to unwind into a long spiral. The result was a stiff circular cross-section antenna known as a "STEM", for "storable tubular extendible member".[5]
- ^ "ALOUETTE 1 (S-27)". N2YO.com. April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Alouette 1 – Trajectory Information". NASA NSSDCA. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ Palimaka, John. "The 30th Anniversary of Alouette I". IEEE. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ^ Helen T. Wells; Susan H. Whiteley; Carrie E. Karegeannes. Origin of NASA Names. NASA Science and Technical Information Office. p. 10.
- ^ "Antenna material". Ingenium. Retrieved July 23, 2018.