Check out these fantastic stamp sheets and an FDC produced by the Ascension Islands P.O. to celelebrate 50 Years of NASA. http://www.postoffice.gov.ac/
First Day CoverThe original purpose of constructing the station at Ascension was for it to support the early Surveyor missions whose Atlas-Centaur launch vehicles would produce a direct-ascent trajectory to the moon, rather than insertion into a parking orbit. Translunar injection would therefore occur before the spacecraft was visible to either the Johannesburg station or the stations in Spain. Consequently a station nearer to the launch site than these facilities was needed to obtain during this phase positional data vital to trajectory determination and midcourse corrections. Because such a station could also support later deep-space missions and Apollo manned missions, NASA decided to build an integrated facility (with a joint-control building) serving both programmes. A site survey, conducted by Goddard Space Flight Centre personnel in April 1964 on Ascension Island, identified a suitable site at Devil’s Ashpit, at an elevation of 1,761 feet on the eastern side of the island.Deep space and Apollo missions were separately monitored by two 9-metre, az-el mounted antennas with high angular-tracking rates. The deep-space antenna (on the right) had a nominal communications range of 60,300 kilometres (37,500 miles).
Happy Collecting,
Nick
SPACEBOOSTERS Online Store
http://www.nasa-space.co.uk/
http://www.nasa-collectables.com/
http://www.unofficial-michaelfoale.com/
http://www.unofficial-pierssellers.com/
http://www.unofficial-helensharman.com/
http://www.unofficial-nicholaspatrick.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment