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- The RAE-1 spacecraft measured the intensity of celestial radio sources, particularly the sun, as a function of time, direction, and frequency (0.2 to 20 MHz). The spacecraft was gravity gradient oriented. The spacecraft weight was 193 kg, and average power consumption was 25 W. It carried two 750-ft-long V-antennas, one facing toward the earth and one facing away from the earth. A 120-ft-long dipole antenna was oriented tangentially with respect to the earth's surface. The spacecraft was also equipped with one 136-MHz telemetry turnstile. The onboard experiments consisted of four step-frequency Ryle-Vonberg radiometers operating from 0.45 to 9.18 MHz, two multichannel total power radiometers operating from 0.2 to 5.4 MHz, one step frequency V-antenna impedance probe operating from 0.24 to 7.86 MHz, and one dipole antenna capacitance probe operating from 0.25 to 2.2 MHz. RAE-1 was designed for a 1-year minimum operating lifetime. The spaecraft tape recorder performance began to deteriorate after 2 months in orbit. In spite of several cases of instrument malfunction, good data were obtained on all three antenna systems. For more details, see R. R. Weber, J. K. Alexander, and R. G. Stone, Radio Sci., v. 6, p. 1085, 1971. - Auxiliary Information - Launch Date and Time : 1968-07-04 17:31:00 Epoch Date and Time : 1968-07-07 Apogee (km or AU): 5861. Perigee (km or AU): 5851. Inclination (degree) : 120.6 Orbit Type : Geocentric Information last updated on 1992-03-09 Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: RAE-A Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Solar/Space Observation Satellites Platform_Series_or_Entity: RAE (Radio Astronomy Explorer) Short_Name: RAE-A Long_Name: Radio Astronomy Explorer-A End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: Explorer 38 End_Group Group: Orbit Orbit_Inclination: 120.6 Perigee: 5851 Apogee: 5861 End_Group Creation_Date: 2008-01-02 Online_Resource: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1968-055A Sample_Image: http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/r/rae.jpg Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1968-07-04 Launch_Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA Primary_Sponsor: NASA End_Group End_Group
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