Vela was the name of a group of satellites developed as the Vela Hotel element of Project Vela by the United States to monitor compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty by the Soviet Union, and other nuclear-capable states. It means vigil or "watch" in Spanish. A satellite is an object that orbits another object (known as its primary). ... Project Vela was a project by the United States to develop and implement methods to monitor compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, often abbreviated as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT), although the former also refers to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), is a treaty...

Vela-5A/B Satellite in Clean Room. (the two A and B satelittes are separated after launch)

Vela started out as a small budget research program in 1959. It ended 26 years later as a successful, cost-effective space system. In the 1970s, the nuclear detection mission was taken over by the Defense Support Program (DSP) system, and in the late 1980s, by the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The program is now called the Integrated Operational Nuclear Detection System (IONDS). Vela-5A/B Satellite in Clean Room File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Vela-5A/B Satellite in Clean Room File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Painting of a DSP satellite on station. ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ...

The total number of satellites built was 12 — six of the Vela Hotel design, and six of the Advanced Vela design. The Vela Hotel series was to detect nuclear explosions in space, while the Advanced Vela series was to detect not only nuclear explosions in space but also in the atmosphere. A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon. ...

All spacecraft were manufactured by TRW and launched in pairs, either on a Atlas-Agena or Titan III-C boosters, and placed in 63,000 to 70,000 mile orbits, well above the Van Allen radiation belts. The first Vela Hotel pair was launched in 1963, three days after the Test Ban Treaty was signed, and the last in 1965. They had a design life of six months, but were actually shut down after five years. Advanced Vela pairs were launched in 1967, 1969 and 1970. They had a nominal design life of 18 months, later changed to 7 years. However, the last satellite to be shut down was Vehicle 9 in 1984, which had been launched in 1969 and had lasted nearly 15 years. For other things named TRW, see TRW (disambiguation). ... Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... The Agena was a rocket upper stage developed by Lockheed for the ill-fated WS-117L US reconnaissance satellite program. ... Mission The Titan IIIC is a space booster used by the United States Air Force. ... Van Allen radiation belts The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles around Earth, trapped by Earths magnetic field. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ...

The original Vela satellites were equipped with 12 external X-ray detectors and 18 internal neutron and gamma-ray detectors. They were equipped with solar panels generating 90 watts. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Properties In physics, the neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass of 939. ... Gamma rays (often denoted by the Greek letter gamma, γ) are an energetic form of electromagnetic radiation produced by radioactivity or other nuclear or subatomic processes such as electron-positron annihilation. ... Solar Panel (photovoltaic array) A laundromat in California powered by solar panels on the roof. ...

The Advanced Vela satellites were additionally equipped with two non-imaging silicon photodiode sensors called bhangmeters which monitored light levels over sub-millisecond intervals. They could determine the location of a nuclear explosion to within about 3,000 miles. Atmospheric nuclear explosions produce a unique signature: a short and intense flash lasting around 1 millisecond, followed by a second much more prolonged and less intense emission of light taking a fraction of a second to several seconds to build up. The effect occurs because the surface of the early fireball is quickly overtaken by the expanding atmospheric shock wave composed of ionised gas. Although it emits a considerable amount of light itself it is opaque and prevents the far brighter fireball from shining through. As the shock wave expands, so the amount of light it emits increases with its surface area. No natural phenomenon is known to produce this signature. General Name, Symbol, Number silicon, Si, 14 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 14, 3, p Appearance dark gray, bluish tinge Atomic mass 28. ... A photodiode is an electronic component and a type of photodetector. ... A Bhangmeter is a type of optical detector used on satellites which are intended to detect atmospheric nuclear detonations. ...

They were also equipped with sensors which could detect the electromagnetic pulse from an atmospheric explosion. In telecommunications and warfare, the term electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has the following meanings: The electromagnetic radiation from an explosion (especially nuclear explosions) or an intensely fluctuating magnetic field caused by Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of the electronic or explosive device or in a...

Additional power was required for these instruments, and these larger satellites consumed 120 watts generated from solar panels.

Serendipitously, the Vela satellites were the first devices ever to detect Gamma ray bursters. In astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of gamma rays that last from seconds to hours, the longer ones being followed by several days of X-ray afterglow. ...

Some controversy still surrounds the Vela program since on 22 September 1979 the Vela 6911 satellite detected the characteristic double flash of an atmospheric nuclear explosion. Still unsatisfactorily explained, this event has become known as the Vela Incident. September 22 is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Orthographic projection centered on the Prince Edward Islands, the location of the Vela incident The Vela Incident sometimes known as the South Atlantic Flash was a September 22, 1979 event that was perhaps a nuclear weapon test. ...

Includes material from NASA Goddard's Remote Sensing Tutorial