Miranda (spacecraft)

Miranda
NamesX4
COSPAR ID1974-013A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.07213[1]
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerHawker Siddeley Dynamics
Launch mass92 kilograms (203 lb)[2]
Power2 deployable solar arrays
Start of mission
Launch date9 March 1974, 02:22:00 (1974-03-09UTC02:22Z) UTC
RocketScout D-1
Launch siteVandenberg SLC-5
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth Orbit
Eccentricity0.01403
Perigee altitude714 kilometres (444 mi)
Apogee altitude916 kilometres (569 mi)
Inclination97.8 degrees
Period101.2 minutes
Epoch8 March 1974, 08:22:00 UTC [3]

Miranda, also known as X-4, is a British satellite in low Earth orbit. The satellite was launched in March 1974 as an engineering test bed of technologies in orbit.[2]

Miranda was named after a character in the Shakespeare play The Tempest,[4][5] just like Prospero (spacecraft) and Ariel 1.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nssdc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Miranda (X 4)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Launch/Orbital information for Miranda". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  4. ^ Hill 2001, p. 201.
  5. ^ Gruntman 2004, p. 17.