Earth Observation Satellites
DASH-2
The Dash (Density And Scale Height) satellites were 2.5-m-diameter balloons used to measure air densities at altitudes of approximately 3500 km. The area-to-mass ratio for the spacecraft was 40 sq cm/g. The orbit, originally circular, increased in eccentricity rapidly under the action of solar radiation pressure. This experiment used the variations in orbit characteristics of the Dash balloon satellite to deduce neutral air densities and to study the effect of solar radiation pressure. Other effects, such as terrestrial radiation pressure, lunar gravity, and solar gravity were also observable. Dash 2 reentered the earth's atmosphere on April 12, 1971. Additional information available at "http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/dash-1.htm" Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: DASH-2 Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites Short_Name: DASH-2 End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: DASH-2 End_Group Creation_Date: 2007-11-19 Online_Resource: http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/dash-1.htm Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1963-07-19 Primary_Sponsor: NASA End_Group End_Group