Satellite To Track Meteoroids Launched

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30760, 26 May 1965, Page 17

Satellite To Track Meteoroids Launched

(NZ.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

CAPE KENNEDY (Florida), May 25.

America’s second Pegasus satellite went into orbit today, 15 minutes after it was launched.

Pegasus satellites scan the skies for meteoroids which may be dangerous to astronauts and their spaceships. The 32001 b spacecraft was boosted by a huge Saturn rocket. Its orbital speed is 16,200 miles an hour. After the launching, the satellite unfolded two giant wings to a span of 96 feet. The wings contain the measuring equipment. Each time the thin, metallic skin of the satellite is penetrated by a meteoroid the spacecraft emits an electronic noise which is recorded in a memory device and radioed to earth on command.

With their speed, clouds of this space dust could act like a series of sandstorms, gradually erode the protective outer coating of a spacecraft and pit its windows. They would be no problem on short flights but could cause considerable damage to manned space stations which would orbit the earth for months or years.

Officials hope the Pegasus satellites will tell more about the distribution, abundance, speed and penetration ability of the particles.

The meteoroids are space dust— a mixture of solid fragments aind fluffy objects, some with the consistency of cigar ash.

They are less than onehundredth of an inch in diameter, weigh about onemillionth of an ounce and travel at speeds up to 40 miles a second.