Orbiting Solar Observatory Satellite, OSO I: The Project Summary

NASA SP-57, prepared by Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and issued by NASA’s Scientific and Technical Information Division, Washington, D.C., 1965. The foreword recounts that Ball Brothers Research Corporation led development of the observatory, designed for roughly six months of operation, with subcontractors Electronic Specialties Company (antennas), AVCO (receiver and decoders), and Vector Manufacturing (transmitter and diplexer); NASA Project Manager was Dr. J. Lindsay, with BBRC project directors F. P. Dolder (spacecraft systems) and R. H. Gablehouse (communications systems). OSO I launched March 7, 1962, from Cape Canaveral’s Air Force Missile Test Center. Five chapters cover the program introduction and observatory design, spacecraft dynamics (including nutation-damper development), structural design and fabrication of the wheel and sail sections, electrical and gas control systems, and the data acquisition and command system, closing with an assessment of the mission’s overall performance.