GEOS-ESA Press Kit

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National AeronauticsandSpace AdministratlonWashington,D C 20546AC 20 2 755-8370

PressKitForRelease IMMEDIATE

Project GEOS/ESARELEASE NO: 77-66

ContentsGENERAL LEASE................................... 1-4SCIENTIFIC PAYLOAD................................ 5TYPICAL LAUNCH SEQUENCE FOR GEOS/ESA .............. 6DELTA LAUNCH ~HICLE.............................. 7STRAIGHT EIGHT DELTA FACTS AND FIGURES............ 8-9STAR CONSORTIUM................................... 10LAUNCH OPERATIONS................................. 11DELTA/GEOS/ESA LAUNCH TEAM........................ 11-12CONTRACTORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3

M a i l e d :April 4, 1977

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National Aerona utics andSpace AdministrationWashington. D C 20546AC 202 755-8370

Bill O'DonnellHeadquarters, Washington, D.C.(Phone: 2 0 2 / 7 5 5 - 0 8 1 6 )

Fc tr ReleaseIMMEDIATE

Joe McRobertsGoddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md..(Phone: 3 0 1 / 9 8 2 - 4 9 5 5 )

RELEASE NO: 7 7 - 6 6

GEOS: EUROPE'S FIRST GEOSYNCHRONOUS SCIENTIFIC SATELLITE

Europe's first geosynchronous orbit scientific space-craft, GEOS/ESA, is scheduled to be launched no earlier than

April 20 from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., by NASA's Deltarocket, to explore the magnetic and electric fields 36,r)r)Okilometers (22,300 miles) above Earth at the equator. Launchwindow is from 5 : 1 2 a.m. to 6:16 a.m. EST.

These very weak fields are being modified continuallyby the flow of electric particles from the Sun and a know-ledge of their behavior is necessary for a more completeunderstanding of Earth's environment.

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The nine onboard experiments,devised by 11 Europeanscientific groups, will detect and measure the magnetic andelectric fields surrounding Earth and the varying flow ofparticles emitted by the Sun. This will permit scientiststo get a better understanding of the interaction of thesolar wind with Earth's magnetic field.

Instruments to detect the extremely weak natural fieldsof the magnetosphere are so sensitive that they can detectmagnetic variations one thousand millionth of the strengthof the Earth's geomagnetic field. This made it necessaryto design the drum-shaped spacecraft with the sensors placedon long booms,two of them 20 meters (65 feet) long, whichisolate them from each other and from interference by theelectronic equipment within the satellite. The booms tele-scope or fold. into the body of the spacecraft during thelaunch phase of the mission.

From time t.0time during its expected lifetime of twoyears, the spacecraft will be moved, from its initial posi-tion at 0 degrees W. longitude to a position at 3 5 d.egreesE. and back again, by means of hydrazine-fueled thrusters.

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During this time sounding rockets will be launchedinto the ionosphere at the same geomagnetic longitude asGEOS/ESA and results will be correlated with those made bythe spacecraft, balloons, aircraft, ground stations andother satellites. These measurements -- including thosefrom polar expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic -- arepart of an international research program called the Inter-national Magnetospheric Study (IMS).

GEOS/ESA is cylindrical, 1.62 m (64 in.) in diameterand 1.10 m ( 4 3 in.) long and weighs 574 kilograms ( 1 , 2 8 5pounds) at launch, including the 305-kg (707-lb.) apogeemotor. It will be injected into orbit on the fourth apogee,or 4 2 1/2 hours after launch, when the spacecraft is overthe mid-Atlantic. From there it will be allowed to drift0.5 degrees per day until it arrives at its on-stationposit on.

The apogee motor will be fired from the European SpaceOperations Center (ESOC), Darmstadt, West Germany, which isresponsible for all tracking and data recovery activitiesafter the spacecraft reaches orbit. Launch vehicle track-ing will be by NASA with all spacecraft data sent simul-taneously to ESOC.

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The spacecraft was built under the overall supervisionof the European Space Agency by industries in 10 Europeancountries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy,Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UnitedKingdom.

ESA gave direct responsibility for building thesatellite to a consortium of European industrial contractorsheaded by the British Aircraft Corp., Bristol, England.NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., directsthe Delta program and McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co.,Huntington Beach, Calif., is the prime contractor. Allcosts for the Delta, including launch services, arereimbursable.

(END OF G E N E R A L RELEASE. BACKGROUND I N F O R M A T I O N FOLLOWS.

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SCIENTIFIC PAYLOAD

Centre National d'Etudes desTelecommunications, FranceGroup de Rechereches Iono-speriques, France and DanishSpace Research Institute,DenmarkESTEC Space Science Division,HollandMullard Space ScienceLaboratory, Lond.on University,United KingdomPhysikalisches Institut derUniversitat Bern, Switzerlandand Max Planck Institut furExtraterrestrische Physik,GermanyKiruna Geophysical Observatory,Sweden

Max Planck Institut furAeronomie, GermanyMax Planck Institut furExtraterrestriche Physik,GermanyLaboratory for Space Research,CNR, Italy

Study of thermal plasmathrough its resonances.Study of low frequencyelectromagnetic wavefields.

Measurement of low frequencyelectric fieldsStudy of the very low energyplasma.

Ion composition, energyspectra and angular distri-bution of low energy particlesand plasma.

Measurement of the pitchangle distribution of lowenergy electrons and protons.Electron-proton spectrometerfor medium energies.Measurement of DC electricfield component perpendicularto the magnetic field vector.Measurement of DC and ULFmagnetic fields.

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D E L T A L AU NC H V E H I C L E

F i r s t S t a g eThe f i r s t s t a g e i s a McDonnell Douglas mod ifi ed Thorb o o s t e r i n c o r p o r a t i n g n i n e C a s t o r I1 s t r a p -o n T h i o ko l s o l i d -f u e l r o c k e t m o to r s. The b o o s t e r i s powered by a Rocketdynee n g i n e u s i n g l i q u i d ox yg en an d l i q u i d h y d ro c ar bo n p r o p e l l a n t s .The main engine i s g im b al -m o un te d t o p r o v id e p i t c h a n d vawC o n tr o l f rom l i f t o f f t o m ain en g i ne c u t o f f ( M E C O ) .

Second StacreThe s e c o nd s t a g e i s p o w e r e d b y a TRVJ l i q u i d - f u e l ,p r e s s u r e - f e d e n g i n e t h a t a l s o i s g im b al -m o un te d t o p r o v id ep i t c h and yaw c o n t r o l t h r o u g h t h e s e co n d s t a g e b u r n. An i t r o g e n g a s s y st em u s e s e i g h t f i x e d n o zz l e s f o r r o l l c o n t r o l

d u r i n g po we red an d c o a s t f l i g h t , a s w e l l a5 p i t c h a nd yawc o n t r o l d u r in g c o a s t an d a f t e r se co nd s t a g e c u t o f f s . Twof i x e d n o z z l e s , fed. by t h e p r o p e l l a n t t a n k , h el iu m p r e s s u r i -z a t io n s ys te m, p ro vi de r e t r o t h r u s t a f t e r t h i r d s t a g e s e pa ra -t i o n . F i ft y- tw o m in ut es a f t e r s p a c e c r a f t s e p a r a t i o n , t h esecond. s tage w i l l b e r e i g n i t e d f o r a 16 -s ec on d b ur n. Dataon t h i s b urn w i l l be c o l l e c t e d f o r s t u d i e s r e l a t e d t o f u t u r eD e l t a m i s s i o n s .T h i r d S t a g e

The t h i r d s t a g e i s t h e TE-364-4 s p i n - s t a b i l i z e d , solidp r o p e l l a n t T h i o k ol mo to r.m ou nted t o t h e s e co n d s t a g e . T h e f i r i n g of e i g h t s o l i d p ro -p e l l a n t r o c k e ts f i x e d t o the s p i n t a b l e a c c om p l is h e s sp i n- u po f t h e t h i r d s t a g e s p a c e c r a f t a sse mb ly.I t i s s e c ur e d i n t h e s p i n t a b l e

I n j e c t i o n I n t o S y n c h r o n o u s O r b i t

o r b i t h a vi n g an a p og ee o f 36 , 300 km ( 2 2 , 5 7 0 m i . ) . . NASA'sS p a c e f l i g h t T r ac k in g a nd D a t a Network w i l l p r ov i d- e t e l e m e t r y ,t r a c k i n g a nd ra n gi ng s u p p o rt u n t i l t h e s p a c e c r a f t i s p l a c e di n i t s f i n a l s yn ch ro no us o r b i t a t 0 d e g r e e s W. Command,c o n t r o l , t r a c k i n q and d a t a a n a l y s i s a re t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e so f t h e E ur op e an S p a ce O p e r a t i o n s C e n t e r (ESOC).

The D e l t a v e h i c l e w i l l i n j e c t GEOS/ESA i n t o a t r a n s f e r

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STRAIGHT E I G H T D E L T A F A C T S AND FIGURES

Height: 3 5 . 4 m (116 ft.) including shroudMaximum Diameter: 2 .4 m ( 8 ft.) withoutattached solidsLiftoff Weight: 1 3 1 , 8 9 5 kg (2?3,1On lb.)Liftoff Thrust: 1 , 7 6 5 , 3 1 5 newtons ( 3 9 6 , 7 0 0 lb.)including strap-on solids

First Stage(Liquid Only) consists of an extended long-tank Thor,produced by McDonnell Douglas. The RS-27 engines are pro-duced by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell- nternational,The stage has the following characteristics:Diameter: 2 .4 m ( 8 ft.)

Propellants: RJ-1 kerosene as the fuel and liquidoxygen (LOX) as the oxidizerThrust: 9 1 2 , 0 0 0 N ( 2 0 5 , 0 0 0 1b.IBurning Time: About 3.48 minutesWeight: About 8 4 , 6 0 0 kg ( 1 8 6 , 0 0 0 lb.) excluding

strap-on solidsStrap-on solids consist of nine solid-propellantrockets produced by the Thiokol Chemical Corp., with thefollowing features:Diameter: 0.8 m (31 in-)Height: 7 m (23 .5 ft,)Total Weight: 4 0 , 3 0 0 kg ( 8 8 , 6 5 0 lb.) for nine4 , 4 7 5 kg ( P,8.50 lb.) for eachThrust: 2 , 0 8 3 , 0 0 0 N ( 4 6 8 , 0 0 0 lb.) for nine231,400 N ( 52,000 lb.) for eachBurning Time: 3 8 seconds

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Second StaaeProduced by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., using

a TRW T R - 2 0 1 rocket engine; major contractors for the vehicleinertial guidance system located on the second stage arec Hamilton Standard, Teledyne and Delco.

Propellants: Liquid, consists of Aerozene 50 forthe fuel and nitrogen tetroxide (PI 0 )for the oxidizer. 2 *

Diameter: 1 .5 m (5 ft.) plus 2 . 4 m ( 8 ft.) attachedringHeight: 6 . 4 m ( 2 1 ft.)Weight: 6 , 1 1 8 kg ( 1 3 , 5 9 6 l b . )Thrust: About 4 2 , 9 4 3 N ( 9 , 6 5 0 Ib.)Total Burning Time: 3 3 5 seconds

Third StaaeThiokol Chemical Co. T E - 3 6 4 - 4 motor.Propellant: SolidHeiqht: 1 . 4 m ( 4 . 5 ft.)Diameter: 1 m ( 3 ft.)Weight: 1 , 1 5 2 kg ( 2 , 5 6 0 lb.)Thrust: 6 1 , 8 5 5 N (13,900 Ib.)Burning Time: 4 4 seconds

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STAR CONSORTIUM

GEOS/ESA was designed and constructed by the EuropeanSTAR Consortium of companies under contract to the EuropeanSpace Agency. British Aircraft Corp. as prime contractoris responsible for project management, systems engineering,attitude and orbit control, wire harness, assembly integra-tion and test and launch support.

Other STAR consortium team members are:Belgium

Denmark

France

Germany

Italy

Netherlands

Spain

SwedenSwitzerland

ETCA -electrical groundsupport equipmentELECTRONIKCENTRALEN - powersupply control, attitudeand orbit control electronicsTHOMSON-CSF -telecommunica-tions; SEP - thrustersDORNIER SYSTEM -structure,booms and mechanisms, andattitude measurements; AEG-TELEFUNKEN - solar panelsCGE FIAR -power supply;MONTEDEL LABEN SPA - datahandling; OFFICINE GALILEO -attitude sensors; SNIAVISCOSA - apoqee motorFODDER-VFW - thermal controland nutation damperSENER SA -mechanical groundsupport equipmentL.M. ERICSSON - antennaeCONTRAVES - structure

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LAUNCH OPERATIONS

The Kennedy Space C e n t e r ' s Expendab l e Veh ic l e sD i r e c t o r a t e p l a y s a ke y r o l e i n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n and. l a u n c hof t h e th rus t - augmen ted D e l t a r o c k e t c a r r y i n g G E O S / E S A .D e l t a 1 3 0 w i l l be la unch ed from Pad B a t Complex 1 7 ,Cape Canavera l A i r F o r c e S t a t i o n .The D el ta f i r s t s t a g e and i n t e r s t a g e w e r e e r e c t e don Pad B March 2 . The n i n e s o l i d st r ap - o n r o c k e t m o to rs' w e r e mounted i n p l a c e a r ou nd t h e b a s e of t h e f i r s t s t a g eMarch 4-5 a nd t h e s ec o nd s t a g e was e r e c t e d M arch 1 4 .The GEOS/ESA s p a c e c r a f t was received. bv -KSC March 8 .A f t e r c h e c k o u t , it w i l l b e ma te d w i t h t h e D e l t a t h i r d . s t a g eA p r i l 7. The t h i r d s t a g e / s p a c e c r a f t a ss em bly w i l l be movedt o t h e p ad f o r m a ti ng A p r i l 11. The p a y lo a d f a i r i n g w h ic hi s t o p r o t e c t t h e s p a c e c r a f t on i t s f l i g h t th ro ug h t h ea tmosphere i s t o be p u t i n p la c e A p r i l 15 .

DELTA/GEOS/ESA LAUNCH TEAM

European Space AgencyRoy Gibson D i r e c t o r Genera lD r . E r n s t Trende l enburg D i r e c t o r o f S c i e n t i f i c andMeteoro log i ca l P rogramsD r . Edgar Page

Maur i ce De l aha i s

Head of Space Sc ienceDepartm ent , European SpaceTechnology C e n t e r (ESTEC)H e a d , S c i e n t i f i c P r o j e c t sESTEC

Derek M ul li ng er ESA/GEOS P r o j e c t Manager

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CONTRACTORS

British Aircraft Corp., SpacecraftBristol, EnglandMcDonnell DouglasHuntington Beach, Calif.Astronautics Co.,

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Delta launch vehicle

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GEOS-ESA Press Kit