Solar Radiation (SOLRAD)
SOLRAD-8
The NRL Solrad 8 satellite was one of the Solrad series that began in 1960 to provide continuous coverage of solar radiation with a set of standard photometers. Solrad 8 was a spin-stabilized satellite oriented with its spin axis perpendicular to the sun-satellite line so that the 14 solar X-ray and ultraviolet photometers pointing radially outward from its equatorial belt viewed the sun with each revolution. Data were transmitted in real time by means of an FM/AM telemetry system and were recorded by the stations on the STADAN tracking network. The satellite performed normally except for the spin system, which failed to maintain 60 rpm (at spin rates below 10 rpm data reduction became difficult). The spin rate gradually decreased to 4 rpm on September 12, 1966. At that time, ground command succeeded in reactivating spinup to 78 rpm, which exhausted the gas supply. From this point, the spin rate gradually decreased to 10 rpm in August 1967, when data collection was substantially decreased. [Summary provided by Gunther's Space Page] Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: SOLRAD-8 Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Solar/Space Observation Satellites Platform_Series_or_Entity: SOLRAD Short_Name: SOLRAD-8 Long_Name: Solar Radiation-8 End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: SOLRAD-8 End_Group Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments Short_Name: SXP End_Group Creation_Date: 2008-01-14 Online_Resource: http://space.skyrocket.de/index_frame.htm?http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/explorer_se-a.htm Sample_Image: http://space.skyrocket.de/img_sat/se-a__explorer30__solrad-8__1.jpg Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1966-05-20 Primary_Sponsor: NASA End_Group End_Group