Transit-O [USN]
(LIDOS similar)
Transit-O [USN] |
LIDOS (Large Inclination Doppler Only Satellite), also known as STP P68-1(j), was a geodesy mission carrying a Doppler radio beacon without a navigation signal.
In the late 1960s, the Navy asked APL to build a geodetic-research satellite called Low-inclination Doppler-only Satellite (LIDOS) "Doppler only" meaning that it was intended to be tracked by the Doppler method, similar to Transit. It was decided later to place the LIDOS satellite in a high-altitude, near-polar orbit; its name was changed to "Large" inclination Doppler-only Satellite" to keep the same acronym. LIDOS was launched on 16 August 1968, with nine other satellites, on an Atlas-SLV3 Burner-2 vehicle, but the heat shield failed to open and all the satellites were lost.
The spacecraft was built on a Transit-O navigational
satellite bus. LIDOS was gravity gradient stabilized by deployable boom with tip mass an
was powered by 4 small deployable solar arrays.
| Nation: | USA |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Geodetic-research |
| Operator: | USAF STP (Space Test Program) |
| Contractors: | JHU/APL |
| Equipment: | Doppler radio beacon |
| Configuration: | Transit-Bus |
| Propulsion: | ? |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | 53 kg |
| Orbit: |
| Satellite | Date | LS | Launcher | Remarks: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIDOS (P68-1 (j)) | 16.08.1968 | Va SLC-3E | F | Atlas-SLV3 Burner-2 (unk + Star-13A) | with Orbiscal 1, OV5 8, Gridsphere 1, 2, Mylar Balloon, Rigidsphere, LCS 3, RM 18, UVR, Radcat, SECOR 10 ,SECOR 11 |
| Further STP missions: |
Last update: 27.09.2009
Contact: gunter.krebs@skyrocket.de
© Gunter Dirk Krebs