Sfera (TEKh-44) was a small passive satellite deployed during a spacewalk from the ISS in August 2012.
Description
Also called the Vektor-T calibration sphere, the satellite enables operators to track its movement, generate velocity and acceleration estimates to determine to what extent atmosphere is slowing down the sphere as it travels in space. Drag (velocity deceleration) estimates are used to determine localized atmospheric density.
TEKh-44 is a shiny sphere 53 cm (20.8 inches) across weighing 14 kg (~31 pounds). "Sfera" is Russian for sphere.
Re-entry
It re-entered the atmosphere in late November 2012.
Sfera-53 2
The second satellite, Sfera-53 2 (TS-530-Zerkalo), was launched on 14 June 2017 09:20 UTC, inside the Progress MS-06 cargo spacecraft on the Soyuz 2.1a carrier rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31/6. It was deployed on 17 August 2017 15:29 UTC.
See also
References
- ^ Krebs, Gunter D. "Sfera-53 (TEKh-44, Vektor-T)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- "What a ball-shaped Sfera satellite looks like". esa.int. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ISS Exp. 32 - Russian EVA-31 Updates Archived 2013-12-25 at the Wayback Machine
- SFERA
- "Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-06". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
External links
| ← 2011Orbital launches in 20122013 → | |
|---|---|
| January | |
| February | |
| March | |
| April | |
| May | |
| June | |
| July |
|
| August | |
| September | |
| October | |
| November | |
| December | |
| Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses). | |
 | This article about one or more spacecraft of the Russian Federation is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |