Mission type Optical reconnaissance Mission duration Failed to orbit Bus RM-81 Agena | Operator US Air Force/NRO Spacecraft type KH-3 Corona''' Launch date 23 October 1961 | |
Launch mass 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb) People also search for Discoverer 34, Discoverer 27 | ||
Discoverer 33, also known as Corona 9026, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. It was a KH-3 Corona''' satellite, based on an Agena-B.
The launch of Discoverer 33 occurred at 19:23 UTC on 23 October 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 75-3-5 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch ended in failure after the Agena suffered a hydraulics system malfunction that led to premature main engine shutdown.
Discoverer 33 was intended to have operated in a low Earth orbit. It had a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,540 lb), and was equipped with a panoramic camera with a focal length of 61 centimetres (24 in), which had a maximum resolution of 7.6 metres (25 ft). It would have recorded images onto 70-millimeter (2.8 in) film, and returned this in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle at the end of its mission. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle carried by Discoverer 33 was SRV-553.