ESRO-1A satellite preparations, 1960s. Engineers working on preparations for the ESRO-1A satellite (also called ESRO I and 'Aurora'), a small non-stabilised satellite that was designed to measure the radiation around the spacecraft as it orbited the Earth. ESRO-1A was used to study the aurorae and the polar ionosphere, in particular how the auroral zones responded to geomagnetic and solar activity. Developed by the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), the predecessor to the European Space Agency (ESA), this satellite was launched by NASA on a Scout rocket from the Western Test Range, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA. ESRO-1A was launched on 3 October 1968, re-entering the Earth's atmosphere on 26 June 1970. |