Spacecraft Brief Description
The GEOS 1 (Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite) spacecraft was a
gravity-gradient-stabilized, solar-cell powered unit designed
exclusively for geodetic studies. It was the first successful active
spacecraft of the National Geodetic Satellite Program.
Instrumentation included (1) four optical beacons, (2) laser
reflectors, (3) a radio range transponder, (4) Doppler beacons, and
(5) a range and range rate transponder. These were designed to
operate simultaneously to fulfill the objectives of locating
observation points (geodetic control stations) in a three dimensional
earth center-of-mass coordinate system within 10 m of accuracy, of
defining the structure of the earth's irregular gravitational field
and refining the locations and magnitudes of the large gravity
anomalies, and of comparing results of the various systems onboard the
spacecraft to determine the most accurate and reliable system.
Acquisition and recording of data were the responsibility of the GSFC
Space Tracking and Data Acquisitions Network (STADAN). Ten major
observing networks were used.
Auxiliary Information
Launch Date and Time : 1965-11-06 18:43:00
Epoch Date and Time : 1978-12-30
Orbit Type : Geocentric
Apogee(km) : 2275.
Perigee(km) : 1113.
Inclination : 59.4
Date of last update : 1992-04-21
Group: Platform_Details
Entry_ID: GEOS-1
Group: Platform_Identification
Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites
Platform_Series_or_Entity: GEOS (Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite)
Short_Name: GEOS-1
Long_Name: Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite-1
End_Group
Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names
Short_Name: GEOS-1
End_Group
Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments
Short_Name: TRANSPONDERS
Short_Name: DOPPLER BEACONS
Short_Name: RADIO TRANSPONDERS
Short_Name: LASER REFLECTOR
Short_Name: OPTICAL BEACON
End_Group
Group: Orbit
Orbit_Inclination: 59.3 deg
Period: 540 days
Perigee: 1135 km
Apogee: 2270 km
Orbit_Type: LEO > Low Earth Orbit > Polar Sun-Synchronous
End_Group
Creation_Date: 2007-09-26
Online_Resource: http://cddis.nasa.gov/926/egm96/geos1.html
Sample_Image: http://www1.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/hillger/ESA-GEOS-1_image.jpg
Group: Platform_Logistics
Launch_Date: 1977-04-20
Launch_Site: Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center, USA
Primary_Sponsor: NASA
End_Group
End_Group (en)