AS-103
Sign in to saveAlso known as A-103, SA-9, Apollo SA-9 CSM BP-16
AS-103 was the third orbital flight test of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, and the first flight of a Pegasus micrometeoroid detection satellite. Also known as SA-9, it was the third operational launch of a two-stage Saturn I launch vehicle.
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- AS-103
- Spaceflight.image
- Pegasus satellite.jpg
- Spaceflight.image_caption
- Pegasus micrometeoroid detection satellite as flown aboard AS-103
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Spacecraft aerodynamics;Micrometeoroid investigation
- Spaceflight.operator
- NASA
- Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID
- 1965-009B
- Spaceflight.SATCAT
- 1088
- Spaceflight.mission_duration
- 3 years, 6 months, 13 days
- Spaceflight.orbits_completed
- ~75,918
- Spaceflight.spacecraft
- Apollo BP-16Pegasus 1
- Spaceflight.launch_date
- UTC
- Spaceflight.launch_rocket
- Saturn I SA-9
- Spaceflight.launch_site
- Cape Kennedy LC-37B
- Spaceflight.disposal_type
- Decommissioned
- Spaceflight.decay_date
- July 10, 1985
- Spaceflight.orbit_epoch
- 22 March 1965
- Spaceflight.orbit_reference
- Geocentric
- Spaceflight.orbit_regime
- Low Earth orbit
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Pegasus satellite.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Saturn-Apollo 9
- UTC date of spacecraft launch
- 1965-02-16
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Objectives
- Launch
- Results
- References
AS-103 was the third orbital flight test of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, and the first flight of a Pegasus micrometeoroid detection satellite. Also known as SA-9, it was the third operational launch of a two-stage Saturn I launch vehicle.
==Objectives== Of 12 flight objectives assigned, two were concerned with the operation of the Pegasus satellite, eight with launch vehicle systems performance, one with jettisoning the launch escape system, and one with separation of the boilerplate spacecraft. The satellite objectives were (1) demonstration of the functional operations of the mechanical, structural, and electronic systems and (2) evaluation of meteoroid data sampling in near-Earth orbit. Since the launch trajectory was designed to insert the Pegasus satellite into the proper orbit, it differed substantially from the trajectory used in missions AS-101 and AS-102.