THEMIS P3

USA

Spacecraft n°:

USA satellite n°:

Also called MIDEX 5C, Explorer 87.

Launch data:

Designation	30582 / 07004C
Launch date	17 Feb 2007 - 23:01 UT
Launch site	CC, SLC-17B
Launch vehicle	Delta-7925-10C (#323)
Mission	Government/Civil: Earth Science, Lunar flyby
Elliptical Earth orbit on Feb 21.90:
Perigee / Apogee	470 x 87301 km
Inclination	16.03°
Period	1869.15 min

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor	Swales Aerospace
Platform
Operator	NASA/University of California, Berkeley (in partnership with Germany, France, Austria, Canada)
Mass at launch	126 kg
Dry Mass	77 kg
Basic shape	Box + 8 booms
Dimension (m)
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power	40 W
Design lifetime	2 yrs

Decay:

Out of service:	Oct 2010
Cause:

Mission details:

Two of NASA's five Earth orbiting THEMIS spacecraft, THEMIS B and C, were co-opted for ARTEMIS following the end of their primary magnetospheric research missions. Their onboard propulsion systems were used to raise their orbits starting last July, and they are now both operating beyond the orbit of the Moon. THEMIS C made lunar flyby on Mar 28, 2010. The THEMIS and ARTEMIS missions are led by a team at University of California-Berkeley.
The spacecraft will study the solar wind, the distant magneto tail, and the lunar wake, and will end up in lunar orbit.

THEMIS B orbits changings:

  Time UTC
 2009 Sep  6          3505 x 159642 km x 8.1 deg orbit
 2010 Feb  1 1444     Distant lunar pass at 69222 km
 2010 Feb 25          7065 x 287087 km x 3.9 deg orbit
 2010 Feb 26          7268 x 325166 km translunar injection
 2010 Mar  1 0411     Distant lunar pass at 68036 km
 2010 Mar  7          18644 x 326528 km
 2010 Mar 28 0734     Lunar flyby height 9366 km? (10200 km per UCB)
 2010 Apr 20          Apogee at 948560 km
 2010 May 12          Perigee at 89178 km
 2010 May 22          At 734400 km en route to 1200000 km apogee

Ref.: #7(JR628), #206, #226 - update: 10.01.11