saturn V booster in polar orbit??

[edawg]

i read an article once concerning a mystery satellite in a north polar orbit,the article later went to say it was a spent upper stage of an apollo booster.can anyone confirm or deny this??google just turned up some alien garbage..

 

[qso1]

Thats correct, no spacecraft launched from Kennedy Space Center goes into a polar orbit. The maximum launch inclination north is 57 degrees and south I'm not sure but direct polar orbit access to the south would not be possible without stages dropping into south florida. <br /><br />The Apollo program itself had no polar orbit requirements. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[yevaud]

From that link:<br /><br /><i>Another possibility is that J002E3 is an S-IVB from Apollo 12. Unlike Apollo 14, Apollo 12's S-IVB did not crash into the Moon. The crew jettisoned it on Nov. 15, 1969, when it was nearly out of fuel. Once the astronauts were safely away, ground controllers ignited the S-IVB's engine. They meant to send the 60-ft-long tank into a Sun-centered orbit, but something went wrong; the burn lasted too long. Instead of circling the Sun, the S-IVB entered a barely-stable orbit around the Earth and Moon "much like the current orbit of J002E3," notes Chodas.</i><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[qso1]

Is this a polar orbit? I'm asking because I did look at the link and I recall when this came out but I didn't see a reference to polar orbit. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[yevaud]

I don't recollect seeing that either.<br /><br />In any event, as was pointed out, it wouldn't have been launched into any sort of polar orbit. But if it went off into some long orbit around the sun and back, it could well end in one. Except it doesn't appear to be exactly in a polar orbit either; it sounds like a long loop out past Luna and back. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[qso1]

Sounds that way to me too. The normal solar orbit if the Saturn third stage escaped Earths gravity long enough to achieve it, should be an orbit not unlike the Earths orbit but with a slightly different period. 334 days for example, or 377 days depending on what angle the stage is pointed, how powerful the engine burn would be etc. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

There was an SIVB that missed the moon, and ended up in solar orbit. It appeared for a while in Earth orbit, but I believe it left a year or two ago.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[qso1]

A few of the Saturn third stages were deliberately sent into solar orbit before manned landings necessitated crashes for lunar crust studies. Any of these stages can pass within several hundreds of thousands of miles of Earth if in a stable solar orbit. The one thought to have been Apollo 12 was sighted in 2002 and as such, was merely seen passing. This stage according to the recent link did not end up in a stable solar orbit. As for Apollo 8, 10, and 11... Don't know if anyone would know the exact orbital parameters therefore they would not know when and where to look. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

This is an interesting link on hardware locations:<br /><br />http://apollomaniacs.web.infoseek.co.jp/apollo/locationse.htm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[qso1]

I thank you very much. I had that before my computer crash a month or so ago. I had it backed up and was about to start seaching my backup data for it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

I lose track of what all I have bumping around in which machine...<br /><br />I think at one point, quite a while ago now, we had a thread of useful links somewhere, with some stuff I posted in it - I know there is a sticky thread over at spaceport that I started too.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

I hope one day that access to space can be routine enough that someone visits the Apollo 10 ascent stage.<br /><br />I know though that I will never see it in my lifetime.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[qso1]

An image I did a long time ago which dealt with the Saturn SIVB in solar orbit. Shown here passing within 400,000 miles of Earth and Moon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>The one thought to have been Apollo 12 was sighted in 2002 and as such, was merely seen passing.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Actually, it was in Earth orbit when it was sighted. It was observed a number of times, enough to determine its orbit, and learn that it had only been in Earth orbit a short while; it had passed through the Sun-Earth-L1 point to be recaptured by Earth's gravity. I believe it has since passed through the L1 point again, departing the Earth system for a while. It will likely continue to be captured by the Earth and lost again for a long time. (It is believed to have departed the Earth system original via the same route. L1 is a sort of gravitational portal between heliocentric and geocentric influence.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[qso1]

Even in Earth orbit it would not probably be visible at all times which was what I was referring to by passing. I wasn't that sure about what type of orbit it was in however. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[qso1]

BTW, on the image, I show the stage deteriorated probably more than it actually is. Especially paintwise. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[edawg]

thanks guys nice pic,to bad the orbit is 22yrs it would of made a nice lil fuel depot..