Explorer S-66

Explorer S-66

Explorer S-66 satellite
Names	BE-A Beacon Explorer-A NASA S-66
Mission type	Ionospheric research
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	EXS-66A
Mission duration	Failed to orbit
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Explorer S-66
Spacecraft type	Beacon Explorer
Bus	Transit-Bus
Manufacturer	Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Launch mass	120 kg (260 lb)
Dimensions	24.5 × 45.7 cm (9.6 × 18.0 in)
Power	4 deployable solar arrays and batteries
Start of mission
Launch date	19 March 1964, 11:13:41 GMT
Rocket	Thor-Delta B (Thor 391 / Delta 024)
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, LC-17A
Contractor	Douglas Aircraft Company
End of mission
Destroyed	Failed to orbit
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit (planned)
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Instruments
Langmuir Probe Laser Tracking Radio Frequency Beacon
Explorer program

Explorer S-66 (also called BE-A, acronym of Beacon Explorer-A), was a NASA satellite launched on 19 March 1964 by means of a Thor-Delta B launch vehicle, but it could not reach orbit due to a vehicle launcher failure.^[1]

Beacon Explorer-A was a small ionospheric research satellite instrumented with an electrostatic probe, a 20-, 40-, and 41-Hz ionospheric radio beacon, a passive laser tracking reflector, and a navigation experiment. Its primary objective was to obtain worldwide observations of total electron content between the spacecraft and the Earth. The spacecraft was an octagonal right prism 24.5 × 45.7 cm (9.6 × 18.0 in)-diameter terminated on top with a truncated octagonal pyramid on which the laser reflectors were mounted. Appended were four hinged paddles carrying solar cells. Each paddle was 167.6 × 25.4 cm (66.0 × 10.0 in).^[1]

During the third stage operation, a malfunction of unidentified origin prevented successful orbit. Satellite and third stage descent were in the south Atlantic Ocean with no useful scientific data obtained.^[1]

• Explorer program