| definition
| - - Spacecraft Brief Description -
ISIS 2 was an ionospheric observatory instrumented with a sweep- and a
fixed-frequency ionosonde, a VLF receiver, energetic and soft particle
detectors, an ion mass spectrometer, an electrostatic probe, a retarding
potential analyzer, a beacon transmitter, a cosmic noise experiment, and two
photometers. Two long crossed-dipole antennas (73 and 18.7 m) were used for the
sounding, VLF, and cosmic noise experiments. The spacecraft was spin-stabilized
to about 2 rpm after antenna deployment. There were two basic orientation modes
for the spacecraft, cartwheel and orbit-aligned. The spacecraft operated
approximately the same length of time in each mode, remaining in one mode
typically 3 to 5 months. The cartwheel mode with the axis perpendicular to the
orbit plane was made available to provide ram and wake data for some
experiments for each spin period, rather than for each orbit period. Attitude
and spin information was obtained from a three-axis magnetometer and a sun
sensor. Control of attitude and spin was possible by means of magnetic
torquing. The experiment package also included a programmable tape recorder
with a 1-h capacity. For nonrecorded observations, data from satellite and
subsatellite regions were telemetered when the spacecraft was in the line of
sight of a telemetry station. Telemetry stations were located so that primary
data coverage was near the 80-deg-W meridian and near Hawaii, Singapore,
Australia, England, France, Norway, India, Japan, Antarctica, New Zealand, and
Central Africa. NASA support of the ISIS project was terminated on October 1,
1979. A significant amount of experimental data, however, was acquired after
this date by the Canadian project team. ISIS 2 operations were terminated in
Canada on March 9, 1984. The Radio Research Laboratories (Tokyo, Japan) then
requested and received permission to reactivate ISIS 2. Regular ISIS 2
operations were started from Kashima, Japan, in early August 1984. ISIS 2 was
deactivated effective 24, 1990.
- Auxiliary Information -
Launch Date and Time : 1971-04-01 02:53:00
Epoch Date and Time : 1971-04-02
Apogee (km or AU): 1428.
Perigee (km or AU): 1358.
Inclination (degree) : 88.1
Orbit Type : Geocentric
Information last updated on 1992-03-09
Group: Platform_Details
Entry_ID: ISIS-2
Group: Platform_Identification
Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites
Platform_Series_or_Entity: ISIS (International Satellite for Ionospheric S
Short_Name: ISIS-2
Long_Name: International Satellite for Ionospheric Studies-2
End_Group
Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names
Short_Name: ISIS-B
End_Group
Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments
Short_Name: PHOTOMETERS
Short_Name: PARTICLE DETECTORS
Short_Name: VLF RECEIVERS
End_Group
Group: Orbit
Orbit_Inclination: 88.1 deg
Perigee: 1358 km
Apogee: 1428 km
End_Group
Creation_Date: 2007-10-05
Online_Resource: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1971-024A
Group: Platform_Logistics
Launch_Date: 1971-04-01
Primary_Sponsor: NASA
End_Group
End_Group (en)
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