The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

426 sweat cooling
Launch
Date: December 5, 1988
Vehicle: Pegasus XL
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base
Orbit: 637 × 651 km × 69.9°
Mass: 288 kg
sweat cooling
A method of controlling the excessive heating of a reentering
body. Surfaces subjected to excessive heating are
made of porous material, through which liquid of highheat
capacity is forced. The evaporation of this coolant
completes the sweat-cooling process.
Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer
A NASA MIDEX (Medium-class Explorer) mission
designed to detect and study the position, brightness,
and physical properties of gamma-ray bursts—the most
powerful energy blasts in the universe. Because the bursts
are fleeting and unpredictable, Swift has been designed to
detect and point, to collect images and measurements,
and to send data back to Earth all within about a minute.
During its three-year mission, scheduled to begin in September
2003, Swift is expected to record more than 1,000
gamma-ray bursts.
Swigert, John Leonard (Jack), Jr. (1931–1982)
An American astronaut who served as Command Module
pilot on Apollo 13. Swigert received a B.S. in
mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado
in 1953 and an M.S. in aerospace science from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in 1965. Having served with the Air
Force (1953–1956) and as a jet fighter pilot with the
Connecticut Air National Guard (1960–1965), he
became one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in 1966.
He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for
Apollo 7 and Apollo 11, and was assigned to the Apollo
13 backup crew before replacing prime crewman Thomas
Mattingly as command module pilot 24 hours prior to
flight following Mattingly’s exposure to German measles.
From April 1973 to September 1977, Swigert served as
executive director of the Committee on Science and
Syncom Series
Technology in the House of Representatives. In 1978, he
ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. After several years
in business, he ran for Congress and, in November 1982,
won the new seat for Colorado’s 6th congressional District.
Swigert died of complications from cancer on
December 27, 1982, a week before he was due to take
office. He was the first circumlunar astronaut to die.
Syncom
A series of experimental communications satellites,
built by Hughes Aircraft, that demonstrated the feasibility
of geosynchronous operation. A nitrogen tank explosion
crippled Syncom-1 during its apogee burn, leaving
Syncom 2 to become the first successful geosynchronous
satellite. However, because its orbit was inclined to
the equator, it did not remain absolutely fixed over the
same spot but instead described a lazy figure-eight path
north and south of the equator every day. Ground stations
followed its movements in latitude, thus making it
available 24 hours a day. The first geostationary satellite
was Syncom 3, launched to provide live daily TV coverage
of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which it did successfully.
The two functioning Syncoms were eventually
handed over to the Department of Defense to provide
reliable transpacific communications; Syncom 2 was
“walked” along the equator using its control thrusters,
until it had joined its sister on the other side of the globe.
Syncom was the descendant of Relay and Telstar and the
immediate forerunner of more capable geostationary
satellites such as Intelsat. (See table, “Syncom Series.”)
Launch site: Cape Canaveral
Mass: 39 kg
synergic curve
A curve plotted for the ascent of a rocket or space vehicle
that is calculated to maximize the vehicle’s fuel economy
and velocity.
synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
A high-resolution radar instrument capable of imaging
surfaces covered by clouds and haze, and used for
Launch
Spacecraft Date Vehicle Orbit Mass (kg)
Syncom 1 Feb. 14, 1963 Delta B Contact lost after orbital injection 39
Syncom 2 Jul. 26, 1963 Delta B 35,891 × 35,891 km × 32.7° 32
Syncom 3 Aug. 19, 1964 Delta D 35,784 × 35,792 km × 0.1° 39