THROWBACKTHISDAY; The Canadian Space Agency launches the satellite Alouette 2

 

                                      

 

Alouette 2 was a Canadian research satellite launched at 04:48 UTC on November 29, 1965 by a Thor Agena rocket with Explorer 31 from the Western test range at Vandenberg AFB in California. It was (like its predecessor Alouette 1, and Explorer 31) designed to explore the ionosphere.

After the Alouette 2 was launched, the upper stage of the rocket used to launch the satellite became a derelict object that would continue to orbit Earth for many years. As of September 2013^[update], the upper stage remains in orbit.

The satellite itself became a derelict after August 1975. It too remains a derelict in Earth orbit as of September 2013^[update].

THROWBACTHISDAY; makes it 50 years and TBT Blog remembers.