Mar 7 1984
From The Space Library
NASA Administrator James M. Beggs and Professor Ernesto Quagliarello, president of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), signed today in Rome two memoranda of understanding; the separate agreements established the development of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS) and the development and launch of Laser Geodynamics Satellite-2 (LaGeos 2).
The TSS would be a data-gathering satellite that would be carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle and released from payload bay on a tether. It would pro-vide an important new reusable, multidisciplinary facility for conducting space experiments in Earth orbit and open the way to several areas of long-term scientific experimentation not otherwise possible. NASA would develop the TSS deploy, perform the system-level engineering and integration, and launch TSS on the shuttle. CNR would develop the two-module (science and service) TSS satellite and provide system-level support to NASA for technical aspects of the satellite.
Eleven countries were conducting laser ranging activities with the passive Laser Geodynamics Satellite-1 (LaGeos 1) launched by NASA in 1976. The agreement signed today outlined the terms for the development of LaGeos 2, which would significantly enhance study and understanding of the solid earth and its dynamic processes. LaGeos 2 would be identical in configuration to LaGeos 1 and would be placed in an orbit of similar altitude but with a different inclination (51-53° prograde instead of 70° retrograde). LaGeos 2 would contribute to the study of plate tectonics and the accumulation of crustal strain in areas of high seismicity through very accurate measurements of baseline changes resulting from crustal motion. The two satellites, in essentially opposite orbits, would improve the precision of current laser-determined baselines by a factor of two and would make possible achievements of a precision of one centimeter for baselines of several thousand kilometers. CNR would be responsible for the fabrication of the LaGeos 2 satellite, integration of the apogee stage and the Italian research interim stage, and delivery to NASA. NASA would provide existing ground support equipment, hardware, and software remaining from the LaGeos 1 mission, technical consultation, and launch on the Space Shuttle as a payload of opportunity with a planned launch in 1987. (NASA Release 84-34)
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