Miranda (satellite)

MirandaNames| X4

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COSPAR ID| 1974-013A
SATCAT no.| 07213[1]
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer| Hawker Siddeley Dynamics
Launch mass| 92 kilograms (203 lb)[2]
Power| 2 deployable solar arrays
Start of mission
Launch date| 9 March 1974, 02:22:00 (1974-03-09UTC02:22Z) UTC
Rocket| Scout D-1
Launch site| Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-5
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric
Regime| Low Earth Orbit
Eccentricity| 0.01403
Perigee altitude| 714 kilometres (444 mi)
Apogee altitude| 916 kilometres (569 mi)
Inclination| 97.8 degrees
Period| 101.2 minutes
Epoch| 8 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.

## Contents

* 1 Design
* 1.1 Operational
* 1.2 Sensors
* 2 Launch
* 3 Mission
* 4 Current status
* 5 See also
* 6 Notes
* 7 References

## Design

### Operational

Miranda used propane cold gas thrusters for attitude control.[1]

### Sensors

It contained a Canopus star sensor to determine the reflectivity and interference caused by the propane.[1]

## Launch

Miranda was due to be launched by a British Black Arrow rocket, but due to the project's cancellation the payload was instead launched on the NASA-owned rocket Scout.[5]

## Mission

Designed as an engineering test bed for various technologies in orbit, Miranda carried various sensors and detectors.[2]

## Current status

The satellite is now non-active, but remains in low Earth orbit.

## See also

* 1974 in spaceflight

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "General information about Miranda". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1974-013A.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Miranda (X 4)". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/miranda.htm.
3. ↑ "Launch/Orbital information for Miranda". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1974-013A.
4. ↑ Hill 2001, p. 201.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gruntman 2004, p. 17.

## References

* Gruntman, Mike (2004). Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry. AIAA. ISBN 9781563477058.
* Hill, Charles N. (2001). A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme 1950-1971 (1st ed.). World Scientific. ISBN 9781783261451.
* Trevorrow, E. U. (3 March 1977). "Miranda Data Processing - Interfaces". Royal Aircraft Establishment. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a046882.pdf.

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