Hitchhiker 2

Hitchhiker 2 (or P-11 4202, P-11 AS and OPS 3316) was a satellite launched by U.S. Air Force. It was launched with the aim of studying and measuring cosmic radiation. The satellite was the second successful satellite of the P-11 program, following the failure of the first Hitchhiker satellite in March 1963. It was launched on October 29, 1963 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a Thor-Agena launch vehicle.

Hitchhiker 2

Mission type	Technology
Operator	USAF
COSPAR ID	1963-042B[1]
SATCAT no.	682
Spacecraft properties
Bus	P-11
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin / MIT
Launch mass	60 kilograms (130 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	October 29, 1963, 21:19 (1963-10-29UTC21:19Z) UTC[2]
Rocket	Thor SLV-2A Agena D 386
Launch site	Vandenberg SLC-1W
End of mission
Deactivated	May 23, 1965 (1965-05-24)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Eccentricity	0.02201
Perigee altitude	285 kilometres (177 mi)
Apogee altitude	585 kilometres (364 mi)
Inclination	89.9°
Period	93.4 minutes
Epoch	October 29, 1963 (1963-10-29)

Launch of Hitchhiker 2.

On May 23, 1965, the satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

Instruments

• 1 Geiger tube (40-4 MeV)
• 1 Faraday cup plasma
• 1 Electron detector (0.3-5.0 MeV)
• 1 Proton detector (0.7-5.3 MeV)
• 2 electrostatic analysers (4-100 keV)

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• Corona program