Australis-OSCAR 5

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Australis-OSCAR 5
NamesAO-5
COSPAR ID 1970-008B
SATCAT no. 04321
Spacecraft properties
Bus AMSAT
Manufacturer University of Melbourne
Launch mass17.7 kg (39 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date23 January 1970, 11:31:02 UTC
Rocket Delta N6
(Delta D76)
Launch site Vandenberg, SLC-2W
Contractor Douglas Aircraft Company
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit
Regime Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude 1432 km [1]
Apogee altitude 1478 km
Inclination 102.04°
Period 115 minutes
 

Australis-OSCAR 5 (a.k.a. AO-5) is an amateur radio satellite that was launched into Low Earth Orbit on 23 January 1970 by a Thor Delta launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. AO-5 was launched piggyback with TIROS-M (ITOS-1) weather satellite). [2]

Contents

Spacecraft

Built by students at The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Battery powered, Australis-OSCAR 5 transmitted telemetry on both 2 meter (144.050 MHz at 50 mW) and 10 meter (29.450 MHz at 250 mW) bands that operated for 23 and 46 days respectively. Passive magnetic attitude stabilization was performed by carrying two bar magnets to align with the Earth's magnetic field in order to provide a favorable antenna footprint. The University of Melbourne compiled tracking reports from hundreds of stations in 27 countries.

Firsts

Notes

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References

  1. "Oscar 5 Telemetry Details". 14 May 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. "Oscar 5 1970-008B". NASA. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .