M-3C
The second generation booster was the three-stage M-3C. The second and third stages were newly developed and equipped with SITVC (Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control) and side jet systems, both of which improved the accuracy of orbital injection. It could send a 195 kg satellite into low earth orbit.
MS-T2 was launched 1974-02-16 from the Kagoshima Space Center by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, University of Tokyo. A technological test equipment of magnetic attitude control system of satellite, a housekeeping measurement system, and a radio telemetry system were installed on board. The national Japanese name for MS-T2 was Tansei-2.
SRATS/Taiyo (Solar Radiation and Thermospheric Satellite) was an aeronomy research satellite launched 1975-02-24. It had an octagonal column form (75 cm in diameter and 65 cm in height), in which the experiment instruments were mounted. The satellite was spin stabilized in a rolling wheel mode by a geomagnetic attitude control system. Four plasma probes were extended perpendicular to the spin axis by 0.5-m metallic booms. Power at an average rate of 15 W was provided by 6000 silicon n-p solar cells. The objectives of the satellite were to study the ionosphere systematically by simultaneously observing solar ionizing radiations (hydrogen Lyman-Alpha and X rays), the ultraviolet albedo of the earth, positive ion composition, and plasma parameters such as electron and ion densities and temperatures in the ionosphere.
The Cosmic Radiation Satellite, CORSA, had the shape of an octagonal right prism with a maximum size of 80 cm and a height of 65 cm. The spacecraft was spin stabilized and capable of being pointed toward any interesting object in the sky. Three kinds of x-ray detectors were to look parallel and perpendicular to the spin axis of the satellite. With these detectors, x-ray sources could be observed over a wide-band energy range and a short time resolution. A core memory of 4000 words would have stored the data during the time when the satellite was not in contact with a telemetry station. The CORSA satellite was launched on February 6, 1976, but failed to achieve orbit.
After launch 1979-02-21, the sixth Japanese satellite, CORSA-B, was officially renamed Hakucho, the Japanese word for swan. The spacecraft had the shape of an octagonal rightprism, with maximum width 80 cm and height 65 cm, and was spin-stabilized at a rate of 5 to 8 rpm. The spin axis was maneuvered by means of magnetic torquing. Eleven X-ray detectors of various specifications were devoted to the observation of cosmic X rays. Four detectors had fields of view perpendicular to the spin axis and scanned over a wide region of the sky in search of X-ray novae and transients. The other seven detectors had FOVs along the spin axis and were used to study selected celestial objects. Observational data could either be telemetered back in real-time or stored in an onboard data-recorder. Telemetry frequencies were 136.725 MHz at 500 mW and 400.450 MHz at 100 mW. The scientific objectives of Hakucho were (1) a systematic survey and watch of short-lived X-ray phenomena, (2) observations of selected X-ray sources with a wide spectral coverage (0.1 to 100 keV), (3) study of short-term variabilities and pulsations of X-ray sources, and (4) study of the X-ray sky in the sub-keV range.
The vehicle M-3C-1 is described as follows
| 1st st. | SOB | 2nd st. | 3rd st. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total length | m | 20.241 | 5.794 | 8.395(7.279) | 2.326 |
| Maximum diameter | m | 1.410 | 0.310 | 1.410 | 1.144 |
| Weight (ig.) | kg | 37445 | 4063 | 11144 | 1311 |
| Weight (b.o.) | kg | 16983 | 1357 | 3918 | 235.6 |
| Propellant weight | kg | 20453 | 2699 | 7174 | 1075 |
| Freon | kg | 173 | |||
| H2O2 | kg | 55 | |||
| Mass ratio | 2.205 | 2.812 | 5.565 | ||
| Specific impulse | sec | 222.8 | 219.0 | 273.0 | 283.0 |
| Center of gravity (ig.) | % | 58.54 | 61.70 | 57.95 | |
| Center of gravity (b.o.) | % | 41.85 | 54.31 | 51.12 | |
| Ix (ig.) | kg.m.sec2 | 1585 | 305.3 | 17.87 | |
| Ix (b.o.) | kg.m.sec2 | 639.8 | 112.3 | 2.675 | |
| Iy (ig.) | kg.m.sec2 | 105717 | 2960 | 23.99 | |
| Iy (b.o.) | kg.m.sec2 | 48690 | 1848 | 10.82 | |
| Net payload | kg | 104.2 | 65.7(SA 56.2) | ||
| Gross payload | kg | 212.6 | 70.39 | ||
| Nozzle expansion ratio | 5.94 | 3.56 | 21.80 | 43.11 | |
| Nozzle exit diameter | mm | 1048 | 302 | 1074 | 696 |
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