Explorer 29
Explorer 29 was an American satellite launched as part of the Explorers program, being the first of the two satellites GEOS. Explorer 29 was launched on 6 November 1965 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States, with Delta rocket.
Explorer 29 was a gravity-gradient-stabilized, solar cell powered unit designed exclusively for geodetic studies. It was the first successful active spacecraft of the National Geodetic Satellite Program. Instrumentation included:
These were designed to operate simultaneously to fulfill the objectives of locating observation points in a three-dimensional earth center-of-mass coordinate system within of accuracy, of defining the structure of the earth's irregular gravitational field and refining the locations and magnitudes of the large gravity anomalies, and of comparing results of the various systems on board the spacecraft to determine the most accurate and reliable system. Acquisition and recording of data were the responsibility of the GSFC Space Tracking and Data Acquisitions Network. Ten major observing networks were used.
