The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 (OAO-2) was launched. The OAO program was developed to increase awareness of the benefits of orbiting telescopes to the scientific community. Four satellites were developed for this program between 1966 -1972, but only two were launched successfully into low Earth orbit. This program was a precursor to orbiting observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Kepler that observe the heavens in certain spectrums above the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) satellites were a series of four American space observatories launched by NASA between 1966 and 1972, managed by NASA Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman. These observatories, including the first successful space telescope, provided the first high-quality observations of many objects in ultraviolet light.
The first OAO was launched successfully on 8 April 1966, carrying instruments to detect ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray emission. Before the instruments could be activated, a power failure resulted in the termination of the mission after three days. The spacecraft was out of control, so the solar panels could not be deployed to recharge the batteries that would supply power to the electrical and electronic equipment on board.
The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 (OAO-2) was launched. The OAO program was developed to increase awareness of the benefits of orbiting telescopes to the scientific community. OAO-2 was launched on 7 December 1968, and carried 11 ultraviolet telescopes. It observed successfully until January 1973, and contributed to many significant astronomical discoveries. Among these were the discovery that comets are surrounded by enormous haloes of hydrogen, several hundred thousand kilometres across, and observations of novae which found that their UV brightness often increased during the decline in their optical brightness.
This program was a precursor to orbiting observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Kepler that observe the heavens in a certain spectrums above the Earth’s atmosphere.
According to nasa.gov and en.Wikipedia. Source of photos: internet
