Mission record
Explorer 49
Also known as PL-693B, Radio Astronomy Explorer, RAE-2
NASA-Office of Space Science · Launched
Explore trajectoryCompleted · Success
A radio astronomy observatory placed in lunar orbit so that the Moon would shield it from terrestrial radio interference.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Delta
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral, United States
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Orbiter
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Explorer 49 launched from Cape Canaveral
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Explorer 49 · Orbiter
Destinations: Moon
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Explorer 49: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data · bounded 4m 36.7s RAE-2 lunar-orbit sample arc · April 29, 1975 to April 29, 1975
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through October 12, 2026
- Explorer 49 - NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Explorer 49 - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Alexander et al.1975: Scientific Instrumentation of the Radio-Astronomy-Explorer-2 Satellite — NASAPaper · Supports: mission claims
- NSSDC original RAE-2 Ryle-Vonberg tape documentation, event table and sample records — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Blanchard and Walden1973: Proposed gravity-gradient dynamics experiments in lunar orbit using RAE-B — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- NSSDCA Ryle-Vonberg 24-Hour Data, PSFP-00075 — NSSDCAArchive · Supports: mission claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context