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

tachyon
A hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed
of light. The existence of tachyons is allowed in principle
by Einstein’s special theory of relativity; however, all
attempts to detect them to date have been unsuccess-
95, 241 ful.
Taifun
Second-generation Soviet target and surveillance satellites
used for testing air defense and space tracking systems.
The Taifun-1 series consisted of nearly 40 spacecraft
launched from the mid-1970s onward. Taifun-2 satellites,
of which some 30 were launched between 1976 and
1995, differed from their predecessors in the type of
equipment carried and also in the fact that they released
up to 25 Romb subsatellites. All the Taifun spacecraft
were placed into low Earth orbits of high inclination
using Cosmos-3M launch vehicles from Plesetsk and
Kapustin Yar.
Taiyo
A Japanese satellite designed to study how solar ultraviolet
and X-rays affect Earth’s thermosphere. Taiyo (“sun”)
is also known as Shinsei-3 and SRATS (Solar and Thermospheric
Radiation Satellite).
Launch
Date: February 24, 1975
Vehicle: M-3C
Site: Kagoshima
Orbit: 255 × 3,135 km × 31°
Mass: 86 kg
T
Tansei Series
428
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC)
A Chinese launch center, also known as Wuzhai, located
in Shanxi province (37.5° N, 112.6° E). It is used to
launch missions with highly inclined (polar) orbits.
takeoff mass
The mass of a launch vehicle, including all stages, fuel,
and payload, at the time of takeoff.
Tanegashima Space Center
A Japanese launch site on the island of Tanegashima
(30.2° N, 130.9° E), 980 km southwest of Tokyo. It is
the largest such facility in Japan and is used for missions
of NASDA (National Space Development Agency).
Launches from here are normally restricted to two 90-day
windows per year, due to safety range procedures set up
as a result of pressure from local fishermen.
Tansei
A series of small Japanese satellites, launched from
Kagoshima, designed to test the performance of new
ISAS (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science)
launch vehicles. (See table, “Tansei Series.”)
Taurus
A four-stage launch vehicle that uses the same Orion
solid motor combination as its smaller cousin, the Pegasus,
stacked on top of a larger Castor 120 solid motor.
First flown in 1994, the Taurus stands 27 m tall, weighs
69,000 to 101,000 kg at ignition, and is easily transported
and launched. It was designed to extend Orbital Sciences’
ability to launch small and Med-Lite satellites. Four variants
of the Taurus launch vehicle exist. The smallest,
known as the ARPA Taurus, uses a Peace Keeper first
Launch
Spacecraft Date Vehicle Orbit Mass (kg)
Tansei Feb. 16, 1971 M-4S 990 × 1,110 km × 30° 63
Tansei-2 Feb. 16, 1974 M-3C 290 × 3,240 km × 31° 56
Tansei-3 Feb. 19, 1977 M-3H 790 × 3,810 km × 31° 129
Tansei-4 Feb. 17, 1980 M-3S 521 × 606 km × 39° 185