Miranda, also known as X-4, is a British satellite in low Earth orbit. The satellite was launched in March 1974 as an engineering test bed of technologies in orbit.[2]
Miranda was named after a character in the Shakespeare play The Tempest,[4][5] just like Prospero (spacecraft) and Ariel 1.
Design
Operational
Miranda used propane cold gas thrusters for attitude control.[1]
Sensors
It contained a Canopus star sensor to determine the reflectivity and interference caused by the propane.[1]
Launch
Miranda was due to be launched by a British Black Arrow rocket, but due to the project's cancellation the payload was instead launched on the NASA-owned rocket Scout.[5]
Mission
Designed as an engineering test bed for various technologies in orbit, Miranda carried various sensors and detectors.[2]
Current status
The satellite is now non-active, but remains in low Earth orbit.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "General information about Miranda". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "Miranda (X 4)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- ^ "Launch/Orbital information for Miranda". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ Hill 2001, p. 201.
- ^ a b Gruntman 2004, p. 17.
References
- Gruntman, Mike (2004). Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry. AIAA. ISBN 9781563477058.
- Hill, Charles N. (2001). A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme 1950-1971 (1st ed.). World Scientific. ISBN 9781783261451.
- Trevorrow, E. U. (3 March 1977). "Miranda Data Processing - Interfaces" (PDF). Royal Aircraft Establishment. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2020.
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