San Marco 2 was a 66-cm-diameter spherical satellite with two experiments, one designed to make direct measurements of air density below 350 km, and the other an ionospheric beacon experiment developed to observe electron content between the earth and the satellite.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 1 was the first crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, it carried the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov to orbit. The mission goal was to rendezvous with Soyuz 2 and move crew members between the spacecrafts, the goal was not met due to Soyuz 2 launch being called off due to thunderstorms. Vladimir Komarov was killed when the parachutes of his Soyuz capsule failed during descent to earth becoming the first in-flight fatality of spaceflight.
Low Earth OrbitThe Martin X-23 PRIME (Precision Recovery Including Maneuvering Entry) was a small uncrewed lifting body re-entry vehicle tested by the United States Air Force in the late 1960s. PRIME 3 mission was flown on 19 April 1967 and simulated reentry from low-earth orbit with a 1143 km cross-range. This time, all systems performed perfectly, and the X-23 was successfully recovered.
SuborbitalThe Transit-O series of satellites that closely followed the design of Transit 5C-1 were also called “Oscars” (Oscar is the phonetic alphabet for “O”, i. e., operational). They were also called NNS (Navy Navigation Satellite) or shortened NavSat.
Polar Orbit