Sphinx (satellite)

SPHINX (short for Space Plasma High Voltage Interaction Experiment) was a test satellite developed by NASA as the payload for the first Titan IIIE Centaur rocket. It was launched on February 11, 1974 alongside the Viking Dynamic Simulator (VDS), a dummy model of the Viking space probe that would eventually be sent to Mars.

Sphinx

The Sphinx satellite in 1972
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Satellite
Manufacturer	NASA
Dry mass	113 kg[1]
Start of mission
Launch date	February 11, 1974
Rocket	Titan IIIE Centaur
Launch site	Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41
End of mission
Destroyed	T+748 seconds[2]

Background

The satellite was designed to test high voltage electrical components and their interaction with plasma in the vacumn of space.^[1] The satellite was spin stabilized, and was to be ejected from the VDS before completing its data readings.^[3]

Launch and destruction

Further information: Titan IIIE § Flights

The launch of the satellite in the Titan IIIE rocket

The satellite was launched on the original test flight of the Titan IIIE-Centaur rocket, and was intended to be deployed after the third burn of the second stage Centaur engine with the payload in orbit. However, the Centaur engine failed to ignite and the ship began to rapidly fall. At this point, the range safety officer ordered the destruction of the rocket, destroying the satellite and VDS with it.^[2]

Two additional satellites named Sphinx B and C were planned to be launched in the early 1980s, with Sphinx B being a repeat of the destroyed satellite.

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• Titan IIIE
• Centaur
• 1974 in spaceflight