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| .....The
three stage launch vehicle placed
Vanguard into a 654 x 3969 km 134.2
minute orbit inclined at 34.25 degrees.
Original estimates had the orbit lasting
for 2000 years, but it was discovered
that solar radiation pressure and
atmospheric drag during high levels of
solar activity produced significant
perturbations in the perigee height of
the satellite, which caused a significant
decrease in its expected lifetime to only
about 240 years. The battery powered
transmitter stopped operating in June
1958 when the batteries ran down. The
solar powered transmitter operated until
May 1964 (when the last signals were
received in Quito, Ecuador) after which
the spacecraft was optically tracked from
Earth. |
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