Engineering:Kosmos 839

From HandWiki
Kosmos 839
Mission typeASAT target
COSPAR ID1976-067A
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeLira
ManufacturerYuzhnoye
Launch mass650 kilograms (1,430 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date8 July 1976, 21:08 (1976-07-08UTC21:08Z) UTC
RocketKosmos-3M
Launch sitePlesetsk 132/1
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude915 kilometres (569 mi)
Apogee altitude2,053 kilometres (1,276 mi)
Inclination65.9 degrees
Period115.6 minutes
 

Kosmos 839 (Russian: Космос 839 meaning Cosmos 839) was a satellite which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1976 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,[1] and used as a target for Kosmos 843 as part of the Istrebitel Sputnikov programme.[2]

It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket,[3] from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 21:08 UTC on 8 July 1976.[4]

Kosmos 839 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 915 kilometres (569 mi), an apogee of 2,053 kilometres (1,276 mi), 65.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 115.6 minutes.[1] It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 843 on 21 July. As of 2009, debris is still in orbit.[2][5]

Kosmos 839 was the third of ten Lira satellites to be launched,[1] of which all but the first were successful. Lira was derived from the earlier DS-P1-M satellite, which it replaced.

See also

  • 1976 in spaceflight

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wade, Mark. "DS-P1-I". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dsp1m.htm. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wade, Mark. "IS-A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/isa.htm. 
  3. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. 
  4. Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kosmos3.htm. 
  5. McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt.