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词条 Prospero (satellite)
释义

  1. Construction

  2. Launch

  3. Current status

  4. See also

  5. References

  6. External links

{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}{{Infobox spaceflight|auto=all
| name = Prospero
| image = Prospero X-3 model 2012.JPG
| image_caption = Flight spare of the Prospero satellite in Science Museum, London.
| mission_type = Technology
| operator = RAE
| website =
| COSPAR_ID = 1971-093A
| SATCAT = 5580
| mission_duration =
| spacecraft_bus =
| manufacturer = BAC
Marconi
| dry_mass =
| launch_mass = {{convert|66|kg|lb}}
| power =
| launch_date = {{start-date|28 October 1971}}
| launch_rocket = Black Arrow R3
| launch_site = Woomera LA-5B
| launch_contractor =
| disposal_type =
| deactivated =
| last_contact =
| decay_date =
| orbit_epoch = 24 January 2015, 04:50:31 UTC[1]
| orbit_reference = Geocentric
| orbit_regime = Low Earth
| orbit_semimajor = {{convert|7295.54|km|mi}}[1]
| orbit_eccentricity = 0.053451[1]
| orbit_periapsis = {{convert|534|km|mi}}[1]
| orbit_apoapsis = {{convert|1314|km|mi}}[1]
| orbit_inclination = 82.04 degrees[1]
| orbit_period = 103.36 minutes[1]
| apsis = gee
}}

The Prospero satellite, also known as the X-3,[2] was launched by the United Kingdom in 1971. It was designed to undertake a series of experiments to study the effects of space environment on communications satellites and remained operational until 1973, after which it was contacted annually for over 25 years. Although Prospero was the first British satellite to have been launched successfully by a British rocket, the first British satellite placed in orbit was Ariel 1, launched in April 1962 on a U.S. rocket.

Prospero has the COSPAR (NSSC ID) designation 1971-093A and the US Space Command satellite catalogue number 05580.

Construction

Prospero was built by the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough. Initially called Puck,[11] it was designed to conduct experiments to test the technologies necessary for communication satellites, such as solar cells, telemetry and power systems. It also carried a micrometeoroid detector, to measure the presence of very small particles.[3] When the Ministry of Defence cancelled the Black Arrow programme,[4] the development team decided to continue with the project, but renamed the satellite Prospero when it was announced it would be the last launch attempt using a British rocket.[11] An earlier Black Arrow launch, carrying the Orba X-2 satellite, had failed to achieve orbit after a premature second-stage shut down.[5]

Launch

Prospero was launched at 04:09 GMT on 28 October 1971, from Launch Area 5B (LA-5B) at Woomera, South Australia, on a Black Arrow rocket, making Britain the sixth nation to place a satellite into orbit using a domestically developed carrier rocket.[6] The Black Arrow's final stage Waxwing rocket also entered orbit, "rather too enthusiastically", as it continued to thrust after separation and collided with Prospero, detaching one of the satellite's four radio antennae.[7]

Current status

A tape recorder is on board, which failed on 24 May 1973 after 730 plays.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

As was noted in an episode of the BBC television series Coast, radio transmissions from Prospero could still be heard on 137.560 MHz in 2004,[8] though the signals used in the episode would actually come from an Orbcomm satellite, rather than Prospero itself (as the later Orbcomm used the same 137.560 MHz frequency since Prospero was considered no longer active). Prospero had officially been deactivated in 1996, when the UK's Defence Research Establishment decommissioned their satellite tracking station at Lasham, Hampshire, but the satellite had been turned on in past years on its anniversary. It is in a low Earth orbit, and is not expected to decay until about 2070, almost 100 years after its launch.[3]

In September 2011 a team at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory announced plans to re-establish communications with Prospero, in time for the satellite's 40th anniversary. As of September 2012, not much progress had been made in establishing contact with the satellite due to time constraints.[9]

See also

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
  • Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
  • Ariel 1

References

Notes
1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=5580|title=PROSPERO (BLACK ARROW) Satellite details 1971-093A NORAD 5580|publisher=N2YO|date=24 January 2015|accessdate=25 January 2015}}
2. ^{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/prospero.htm |title=Prospero (X-3) |first=Gunter |last=Krebs |work=Gunter's Space Page |accessdate=22 September 2011}}
3. ^{{Harvnb|Harvey|2003|p=89}}
4. ^{{cite web |title=The Cancellation of Black Arrow |url=http://www.spaceuk.org/ba/blackarrowcancellation.htm| publisher=SpaceUK.org |work=A Vertical Empire |first=C. N. |last=Hill |accessdate=5 November 2011}}
5. ^{{Harvnb|Baker|1978|p=230}}
6. ^{{cite book|last1=Norris|first1=Pat|title=Spies in the sky: surveillance satellites in war and peace|date=2008|publisher=Springer|location=Berlin|isbn=9780387716725|page=156}}
7. ^{{Harvnb|King-Hele|2005|p=163}}
8. ^Coast, 26 October 2006, Series 2 Episode 1, BBC
9. ^{{cite web|last=Roger J A |first=Duthie |title=Long Overdue Update |url=http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/prospero-satellite/2012/04/04/long-overdue-update/ |publisher=UCL Blogs |accessdate=25 June 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024215327/http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/prospero-satellite/2012/04/04/long-overdue-update/ |archivedate=24 October 2012 |df=dmy-all }}
10. ^{{cite episode |title=British Space Race |series=Time Shift |network=BBC |station=BBC Four}}
[10]
}}Bibliography{{refbegin}}
  • {{citation |last=Baker |first=David |title=The Rocket: The History and Development of Rocket and Missile Technology |year=1978 |publisher=New Cavendish Books |isbn=978-0-904568-10-3}}
  • {{citation |last=Harvey |first=Brian |title=Europe's Space Programme: To Ariane and Beyond |year=2003 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-85233-722-3}}
  • {{citation |last=King-Hele |first=Desmond |title=A Tapestry of Orbits |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01732-9}}
{{refend}}

External links

  • Black Arrow from "Woomera on the Web"
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20050206220350/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/prospero.htm Prospero] from Encyclopedia Astronautica
  • Prospero in the Global Frequency Database
{{Black Arrow}}{{Orbital launches in 1971}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2011}}

7 : Spacecraft launched in 1971|Artificial satellites orbiting Earth|1971 in the United Kingdom|Space programme of the United Kingdom|Spacecraft launched by Black Arrow rockets|Satellites of the United Kingdom|Derelict satellites orbiting Earth

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