Mission type Technology Harvard designation 1961 Alpha Eta 2 Launch mass 109 kilograms (240 lb) Launch date 15 November 1961 Inclination 32.44° SATCAT no. 205 | Operator United States Navy Mission duration 270 days Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-17B Inclination 32.44° Rocket Thor-Ablestar Last contact 12 August 1962 | |
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Similar Transit 3B, LOFTI‑1, Explorer 9, Mercury‑Scout 1, Explorer 10 | ||
The Transit Research and Attitude Control (TRAAC) satellite was launched by the U. S. Navy from Cape Canaveral along with Transit 4B on November 15, 1961.
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Mission
The 109 kg satellite was used to test the feasibility of using gravity-gradient stabilization in Transit navigational satellites. It provided information on the effects of radiation from nuclear explosions in space, as it was one of several satellites whose detectors provided data for the Starfish Prime test; ultimately its solar cells were damaged by the radiation and it ceased operation. (It was among several satellites which were inadvertently damaged or destroyed by the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test on July 9, 1962 and subsequent radiation belt.) It is expected to orbit for 800 years at an altitude of about 950 kilometers (590 mi).
Poem
The first poem to be launched into orbit about the Earth was inscribed on the instrument panel of TRAAC. Entitled Space Prober and written by Prof. Thomas G. Bergin of Yale University, it reads in part:
And now 'tis man who dares assault the sky... And as we come to claim our promised place, aim only to repay the good you gave, And warm with human love the chill of space.