GAMBIT 1

1963-28A

The first KH-7 GAMBIT flight, SV 951, was launched in Jul 1963 by Atlas Agena D from the Point Arguello Naval Missile Facility adjacent to Vandenberg. The spacecraft remained attached to the Agena D for the first day, when the RV was recovered. The OCV then separated from the Agena 4702 upper stage in a test of the stabilization system, and reentered after 5 days on around Jul 18.0. According to the AFCRL data [165], the cosmic radiation emulsion pack in the SRV was successfully recovered, implying that the reconnaissance data must also have been retrieved. It isn't clear how long after SRV recovery the OCV separation happened; in the table below I assume it was one orbit later, but it may have been immediate. Similiary, SRV recovery times are not known exactly, and may be in error by one orbit even when a specific revolution is noted because of ambiguity in numbering of revolutions.


KH-7 1 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1963 Jul 12   2045:59   Launch by Atlas Agena D   NMFPA 
  2048:17   BECO (T+2:18) 
  2050:36   SECO (T+4:37) 
  2050:53   VECO (T+4:54) 
  2050:58   Atlas sep (T+4:59) 
  2051:50   Agena burn (T+5:51) 
  2055:38   Agena MECO (T+9:39)   88.51 208 x 213 x 95.35 (VCR)  
1963 Jul 13   0801     88.34 173 x 211 x 95.3 
1963 Jul 13   2315?   RV sep 
1963 Jul 13   2330?   RV recovered on Rev 18 
1963 Jul 14   0050?   OCV sep from Agena D 
1963 Jul     OCV orbit (28A)  88.3 173 x 212 x 95.3 (SATCAT) 
    Agena 4702 orbit (28C)  88.1 176 x 185 x 95.4 (SATCAT) 
    Debris orbit (28B)   87.8 122 x 216 x 95.3 (SATCAT) 
1963 Jul 16     Agena 4702 reentered 
1963 Jul 17   0200  OCV orbit   164 x 164 x 95.37 (RAE) 
1963 Jul 17   0313    87.76 163 x 163 x 95.4 
1963 Jul 17     OCV SV 951 Reentered after 5.2d 

Payload: