SOLRAD 1 was a combination science and surveillance satellite launched into orbit on 22 June 1960. It was the first satellite to successfully observe solar X-rays and the first to conduct surveillance from orbit. The scientific package aboard the satellite provided cover for the electronic surveillance package, whose mission was to map the Soviet Union’s air defense radar network. The mission was in many ways a direct successor to NRL’s Project Vanguard, the first American satellite program.
About SOLRAD 1 in brief
SOLRAD 1 was a combination science and surveillance satellite launched into orbit on 22 June 1960. It was the first satellite to successfully observe solar X-rays and the first to conduct surveillance from orbit. The scientific package aboard the satellite provided cover for the electronic surveillance package, whose mission was to map the Soviet Union’s air defense radar network. The satellite’s scientific mission was a success, sending useful data until November 1960. The electronic surveillance mission was also successful, operating until 22 September 1960. SOLRADGRAB 1 was switched off in April 1961, making it the first Satellite to be remotely deactivated. The dual-purpose satellite was sometimes renamed GRAB, GREB, and referred to in its capacity as SOLR AD. The mission was in many ways a direct successor to NRL’s Project Vanguard, the first American satellite program. The U.S. Navy had wanted to determine the role of solar flares in radio communications disruptions: 300 and the level of hazard to satellites and astronauts posed by ultraviolet and X-ray radiation. Such a study had not previously been possible, as the Earth’s atmosphere blocks the Sun’s X-Ray and ultraviolet output from ground observation. The Navy already had a purpose-built solar observatory in the form of Vanguard 3, which had been launched in 1959. On 5 May 1960, just four days after the launch, Gary Powers’ U-2 flight over Soviet Union highlighted the vulnerability of aircraft-based surveillance systems.
The Soviet Union began deploying the S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile, controlled by Fan Song fire control radars. This development made penetration of Soviet air space by American bombers more dangerous. In 1957, the United States Air Force began a program of cataloging the rough location and individual operating frequencies of these radars, using electronic reconnaissance aircraft flying off the borders of the Soviet Soviet Union. This program provided information on radars on the periphery of theSoviet Union, but information on the sites in the interior of the country was lacking. Some experiments were carried out using radio telescopes looking for serendipitous Soviet radar reflections off the Moon, but this proved an inadequate solution to the problem. In March 1958, an NRL engineer Reid D. Mayo determined that a Vanguard derivative could be used to map Soviet missile sites. Six months later the concept was approved under the name “Tattletale”. : 364 President Eisenhower approved full development of the program on 24 August 1959. After a news leak by The New York Times, Eisenhower cancelled the project. The project was restarted after heightened security had been implemented, including greater oversight and restriction of access to personnel.
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This page is based on the article SOLRAD 1 published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
