ATS-2 - Credit: NASA. 17,820 bytes. 256 x 294 pixels.

ATS-2 was placed into an undesirable orbit due to a launch vehicle failure. Atmospheric torques in this orbit overcame the satellite's gravity gradient stabilisation system, and caused a slow tumble. Although the satellite remained functional, the satellite was deactivated after six months due to the limited amount of data that could be received from the spacecraft. Spacecraft: Aluminum structure, drum solar array providing 125W BOL, 2 6 Ah NiCd batteries, gravity gradient stabilisation. Payload: Meteorological experiments, C-band communications package

Design Life: 3 years. Total Length: 1.8 m. Maximum Diameter: 1.4 m. Total Mass: 370 kg.

Launch vehicle failure left in useless orbit; communications tests.

• 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
• 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
• 279 - McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html