Kosmos 137

Kosmos 137 (Russian: Космос 137 meaning Cosmos 137), also known as DS-U2-D No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 295 kilograms (650 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to investigate charged particles in the Earth's magnetosphere.[3]

Kosmos 137
Mission typeMagnetosphere
COSPAR ID1966-117A
SATCAT no.02627
Mission duration142 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeDS-U2-D
ManufacturerYuzhnoye
Launch mass295 kg [1]
Start of mission
Launch date21 December 1966
13:11:59 GMT
RocketKosmos-2I 63S1
Launch siteKapustin Yar, Site 86/1
ContractorYuzhnoye
End of mission
Last contact12 May 1967
Decay date23 November 1967
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric [2]
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude219 km
Apogee altitude1718 km
Inclination48.8°
Period104.3 minutes
Epoch21 December 1966
 

A Kosmos-2I 63S1 carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 137 into low Earth orbit. The launch took place from Site 86/1 at Kapustin Yar.[4] The launch occurred at 13:11:59 GMT on 21 December 1966, and resulted in the successful insertion of the satellite into orbit.[5] Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1966-117A. The North American Air Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 02627.[1]

Kosmos 137 was the first of two DS-U2-D satellites to be launched,[3] and was followed by Kosmos 219 (26 April 1968).[6] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 219 kilometres (136 mi), an apogee of 1,718 kilometres (1,068 mi), an inclination of 48.8°, and an orbital period of 104.3 minutes.[2] It completed operations on 12 May 1967,[7] before decaying from orbit and reentering the atmosphere on 23 November 1967.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Cosmos 137: Display 1966-117A". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "Cosmos 137: Trajectory 1966-117A". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  3. Wade, Mark. "DS-U2-D". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
  4. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
  5. Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
  6. Krebs, Gunter. "DS-U2-D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
  7. "World Civil Satellites 1957-2006". Space Security Index. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
  8. McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.