PAGEOS

Passive Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite (PAGEOS)

Test inflation of PAGEOS

Names| PAGEOS-A
Operator| NASA Office of Space Applications
COSPAR ID| 1966-056A
SATCAT no.| 02253
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass| 56.7 kg (125 lb)
Dimensions| 30.48 m (100.0 ft) diameter
Start of mission
Launch date| 00:14:00, June 24, 1966 (UTC) (1966-06-24T00:14:00Z)
Rocket| Thrust augmented Thor-Agena D
Launch site| Vandenberg AFB
End of mission
Destroyed| partially disintegrated July 1975 (1975-07)
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric[1]
Eccentricity| 0.00301
Perigee altitude| 4,207 km (2,614 mi)
Apogee altitude| 4,271 km (2,654 mi)
Inclination| 87.14°
Period| 181.43 min
Epoch| 24 June 1966

PAGEOS (PAssive Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite) was a balloon satellite which was launched by NASA in June 1966.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Design
* 2 Orbit
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Design

PAGEOS had a diameter of exactly 100 feet (30.48 m), consisted of a 0.5 mils (12.7 μm) thick mylar plastic film coated with vapour deposited aluminium enclosing a volume of 524,000 cubic feet (14,800 m3) and was used for the Weltnetz der Satellitentriangulation (Worldwide Satellite Triangulation Network) – a global cooperation organized by Hellmut Schmid (Switzerland & USA) 1969–1973.

Finished in 1974, the network connected 46 stations (3000-5000 km distance) of all continents with an accuracy of 3-5 m (approx. 20 times better than terrestrial triangulations at that time).

## Orbit

The PAGEOS spacecraft was placed into a polar orbit (inclination 85–86°) with a height of approx. 4000 km, which had gradually lowered during its 9 years of operation. The satellite partly disintegrated in July 1975, which was followed by a second break-up that occurred in January 1976 resulting in the release of a large number of fragments. Most of these re-entered during the following decade.[3] PAGEOS data have been released in 11 data sets.[4]

PAGEOS' predecessors in satellite triangulation were the balloons Echo 1 (1960, 30 m) and Echo 2 (1964, 40 m) which were also used for passive telecommunication. Their apparent magnitude (brightness) was 1 mag, that of Pageos 2 mag (like Polaris) due to its higher orbit. Pageos could therefore be observed simultaneously e.g. from the ground in places such as Europe and North America. PAGEOS appeared as a slow-moving star (at first glance it would appear to be stationary). Its orbital period was approximately three hours. Because of its high orbit and polar inclination it would avoid the Earth's shadow and be observed any time of the night (low-orbit satellites are only observable shortly after sunset and before sunrise). In the early 1970s PAGEOS varied from 2nd apparent magnitude to beyond visibility over a period of a few minutes.

In 2016, one of the largest fragments of PAGEOS de-orbited.[5]

## See also

* List of passive satellites
* Reference ellipsoid
* World Geodetic System (WGS84)

## References

1. ↑ "NSSDCA - PAGEOS 1 - Trajectory Details". NASA. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-056A. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
2. ↑ "PAGEOS 1". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-056A. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
3. ↑ "PAGEOS 1". http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/pageos.htm. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
4. ↑ "Data Collection Search Results". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/datasetSearch.do?spacecraft=PAGEOS 1. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
5. ↑ J.-C. Liou (February 1, 2017). "USA Space Debris Environment, Operations, and Research Updates". 54th Session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, United Nations, 30 January – 10 February 2017, Vienna. http://www.unoosa.org/documents/pdf/copuos/stsc/2017/tech-15E.pdf.

## External links

* NASA technical note: The fabrication and testing of PAGEOS I

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