Mission type Technology SATCAT no. 13 Spacecraft type Corona Test Vehicle Launch date 28 February 1959 Operator United States Air Force | Harvard designation 1959 Beta 1 Mission duration Failed to orbit Rocket Thor DM-18 Agena-A 163 Bus RM-81 Agena | |
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Similar RM‑81 Agena, Discoverer 18, Explorer 7, Explorer 6, Vanguard 2 | ||
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Discoverer 1 was the first of a series of satellites which were part of the Corona reconnaissance satellite program. It was launched on a Thor-Agena rocket on February 28, 1959 at 1:49 PST from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was a prototype of the KH-1 satellite, but did not contain either a camera or a film capsule. It was the first satellite launched toward the South Pole in an attempt to achieve polar orbit, but was unsuccessful. A CIA report, later declassified, concluded that "Today, most people believe the DISCOVERER I landed somewhere near the South Pole."
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28 february 1959 history repeats itself discoverer 1
References
Discoverer 1 Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA