At the annual planetary conference KSC scientists gave a presentation of the first results of the Explorer program:
Explorer 05 Arrives at Duna
Explorer 5 arrived at Duna in a polar orbit, allowing the sensors to map the surface with ease. The booster stage was finally depleted and would be used as an atmospheric drag probe. There was enough fuel left for a trip to Ike, at least, that is what the scientists thought.
Explorer 7 departs for Eve
The latest incarnation of the Explorer series carried a deployable probe, and due to a very fortunate transfer window, it would get to Eve fast.
Explorer 7 arrives at Eve
Explorer 7 entered the orbit of Eve, after a relatively short journey. At first, it seemed like the DV reserves would not be enough, but then controllers saw a simple solution.
The burn turned out to be easy, losing only 300 m/s the craft ended up in a 2-day orbit that was highly eccentric. It would only scan the plane partially, but that would take just several months to build the map of this unknown cloud-covered planet. It also offered 3 major advantages.
The first being that at apoapsis the orbit would be lowered and the probe would be released at very low levels of delta-v. It would descend in the atmosphere targeting 80 km while the explorer would be at a safe distance. That, however, turned out differently with the probe overheating less than 15 seconds after entering the atmosphere. KSC was disappointed and started thinking about a new probe.
Meanwhile, explorer 7 kept mapping eve and waited for an encounter with Gilly, 38 days later.
After 38 days of looping Eve, a technician discovered the radars had been switched off, so no map had been made. This meant that KSC would not put explorer 7 in orbit of GIlly but merely make a flyby.
On the way back it started mapping Eve again. After 143 days there would be another alignment and hopefully, they could put her in orbit of Gilly then. The first data, however, was really interesting, if there would be ore on Gilly, it would make an excellent mining planet. “Too bad we didn’t bring that sensor,” Bob thought.
Explorer 5 secondary mission
With its primary mission complete, and plenty of fuel left, Explorer 5 lit up its engines for a polar intercept with Ike. 20 minutes after the burn KSC lost contact with the probe. As it turned out the solar panels had turned perpendicular to the sun axis, resulting in too little power for all the science instruments.
Fortunately, just before reaching the periapsis of Ike, brief moments of contact were possible, allowing KSC to shut down the main scanner and regain control. Explorer entered the orbit of Ike and started mapping the surface for biomes, anomalies, and terrain.
Explorer 2, 3, 4, 6
The remaining explorers were well on track and apart from Explorer 4, which was heading for Eeloo, results were expected next year.
KSC Archives 