Discoverer 6
Discoverer 6, also known as Corona 9003, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite launched on 19 August 1959 at 19:24:44 GMT, the third of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series. Though the spacecraft was orbited successfully, the onboard camera ceased operating by the second orbit, and the film-return capsule could not be recovered.
Background
"Discoverer" was the civilian designation and cover for the Corona satellite photo-reconnaissance series of satellites managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force. The primary goal of the satellites was to replace the U-2 spyplane in surveilling the Sino-Soviet Bloc, determining the disposition and speed of production of Soviet missiles and long-range bombers assess. The Corona program was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other US government mapping programs.The first series of Corona satellites were the Keyhole 1 satellites based on the Agena-A upper stage, which not only offered housing but whose engine provided attitude control in orbit. The KH-1 payload included the C single, vertical-looking, panoramic camera that scanned back and forth, exposing its film at a right angle to the line of flight. The camera, built by Fairchild Camera and Instrument with a f/5.0 aperture and focal length, had a ground resolution of. Film was returned from orbit by a single General Electric Satellite Return Vehicle constructed by General Electric. The SRV was equipped with an onboard small solid-fuel retro motor to deorbit at the end of the mission. Recovery of the capsule was done in mid-air by a specially equipped aircraft.
Discoverer 6 was preceded by Discoverer 5, launched 13 August 1959, Discoverer 4, launched 25 June 1959, and three Discoverer test flights whose satellites carried no cameras, launched in the first half of 1959.
Spacecraft
The battery-powered Discoverer 6 was a cylindrical satellite in diameter, long and had a mass after second stage separation, including propellants, of roughly. After orbital insertion, the satellite and SRV together massed. The capsule section of the reentry vehicle was in diameter and long. Like Discoverers 4 and 5, Discoverer 6 carried the C camera for its photosurveillance mission.The capsule was designed to be recovered by a specially equipped aircraft during parachute descent, but was also designed to float to permit recovery from the ocean. The main spacecraft contained a telemetry transmitter and a tracking beacon.