Vela 3A

Vela 3A

Vela satellite.
Operator	USAF
COSPAR ID	1965-058A[1]
SATCAT no.	1458
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	TRW
Launch mass	150 kilograms (330 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	July 20, 1965, 08:27 (1965-07-20UTC08:27Z) UTC
Rocket	Atlas Agena D 2A
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-13
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Highly Elliptical
Perigee altitude	84,534 kilometres (52,527 mi)
Apogee altitude	96,238 kilometres (59,800 mi)
Inclination	35.2°
Period	5,148.16 minutes
Epoch	July 20, 1965 (1965-07-20)
Vela

Launch of Vela 3A.

Vela 3A (also known Vela 5, Vela Hotel 5 and OPS 6577^[2]) was a U.S. reconnaissance satellite to detect explosions and nuclear tests on land and in space; the first of the third pair of Vela series satellites; taken together with Vela 3B and ERS 17 satellites.

The secondary task of the ship was space research (X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, magnetic field and charged particles). Sister Vela 3B was in a similar orbit, but 180 degrees from it, i.e. on the opposite side of the globe.

The satellite was rotationally stabilized (2 rps). The ship could work in real time mode (one data frame per second) or in data recording mode (one frame every 256 seconds). The first mode was used for the first 40% of the mission's duration. About 1 transmission was received every 4 hours. The second mode was used until the next pair of Vela satellites were launched.

The ship remains in orbit around Earth.

Instruments

• X-ray and charged particle detector
• Gamma ray and charged particle detector
• Neutron detector
• X-ray scintillation counter
• Solid state detector
• Geiger-Muller counters
• Magnetometer
• Extreme Ultraviolet detector

See also

• Vela (satellite)

References

1. NASA GSFC. "Vela 3A". Retrieved July 28, 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. Antonín Vítek. "1965-058A – Vela 3". Space 40. Retrieved July 28, 2019.

External links

• Review and Interpretation of Particle Measurements Made by the Vela Satellites in the Magnetotail. Springer Nature
• Observations of the Solar Wind, Bow Shock and Magnetosheath by the Vela Satellites (PDF). Springer Nature