The final 101B flight was launched in Mar 1962. Although some reports say that the 101 program was cancelled in 1961, the orbital characteristics of SAMOS 6, the launch photo and the Agena serial number (2204) place it firmly with the rest of the 101B satellites. The orbit according to Vandenberg AFB [120] was 235 x 380 km, against a planned 231 x 409 km. This is close to the SATCAT orbit for the reflector, object 1962 Eta 2, at 226 x 337 km. However, the other two objects cataloged (payload and Agena) have a higher apogee around 680 km. The similarity of the orbits of these objects with that of the SAMOS 5 reflector may have contributed to confusion about these missions (as well as the assignment of the AlphaLambda1 designation to the SAMOS 5 reflector) - it certainly confused me. However I now believe it to be coincidental. My new suggested reconstruction of the SAMOS 6 mission is that it entered the desired low orbit, but lost attitude control (recently declassified documents confirm that control gas was exhausted on orbit 22). A recovery attempt was made, but the Agena fired in the wrong direction, leaving it and the E-5 reentry vehicle in a high apogee orbit. This reconstruction is supported by the late 1990s release of archival NORAD element sets which show Eta1 moving from the low to high orbit between Mar 8 and Mar 10.
| SAMOS 6 objects | ||
| 0256 | Eta 1 | Payload |
| 0258 | Eta 2 | Reflector |
| 0259 | Eta 3 | Agena B |
| SAMOS 6 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 Mar 7 | 2210:31 | Launch by Atlas Agena B | NMFPA |
| 2212:50 | BECO (T+2:19) | ||
| 2214:53 | SECO (T+4:22) | ||
| 2215:09 | VECO (T+4:38) | ||
| 2215:12 | Atlas sep (T+4:41) | ||
| 2216:06 | Agena burn (T+5:35) | ||
| 2219:42 | Agena MECO (T+9:11) | 90.6 235 x 380 x ? (VCR) | |
| 1962 Mar 8 | 0210 | Payload orbit | 90.52 198 x 402 x 90.82 |
| 1962 Mar 9 | 0700? | Control gas exhausted, orbit 22 | |
| 1962 Mar 9? | Reflector jettison | ||
| 1962 Mar 9? | 2330? | Agena B burn (deorbit attempt) | |
| 1962 Mar 9? | Agena B MECO | ||
| 1962 Mar 9? | Payload sep from Agena | ||
| 1962 Mar 10 | 0235 | Payload orbit | 93.87 251 x 676 x 90.88 |
| 1962 Mar 10 | 0235 | Agena B orbit | 93.94 253 x 681 x 90.82 |
| 1962 Mar 10 | 0227 | Reflector orbit | 90.42 226 x 364 x 90.87 |
| 1962 Mar ? | Reflector orbit (1962 Eta 2) | 90.2 226 x 337 x 90.9 (SATCAT) | |
| 1962 Mar ? | Payload orbit (1962 Eta 1) | 93.9 236 x 686 x 90.9 (SATCAT) | |
| 1962 Mar ? | Agena orbit (1962 Eta 3) | 93.9 245 x 679 x 90.9 (SATCAT) | |
| 1962 Mar 12 | 1712 | Payload orbit | 93.78 233 x 686 x 90.93 |
| 1962 Mar 12 | 1714 | Agena B orbit | 93.81 241 x 680 x 90.85 |
| 1962 Mar 13 | 1200 | Payload orbit (1962 Eta 1) | 93.9 251 x 676 x 90.89 (RAE) |
| 1962 Mar 18 | 1938 | Reflector orbit | 89.94 219 x 323 x 90.85 |
| 1962 Mar 29 | 1523 | Reflector orbit | 88.93 200 x 243 x 90.82 |
| 1962 Mar 31 | Reflector reentered | ||
| 1962 May 1 | 1430 | Agena orbit (1962 Eta 3) | 93.3 250 x 618 x 90.87 (RAE) |
| 1962 Jul 6 | 1430 | Agena orbit | 92.4 228 x 553 x 90.87 (RAE) |
| 1962 Oct 24 | 1430 | Agena orbit | 89.6 209 x 294 x 89.6 (RAE) |
| 1962 Nov 1 | 1123 | Agena orbit | 88.44 197 x 197 x 90.87 |
| 1962 Nov 3 | 0930?? | Agena reentered | |
| 1963 Jan 5 | 1700 | Payload orbit | 91.57 223 x 467 x 90.87 (RAE) |
| 1963 May 28 | 1700 | Payload orbit | 88.85 189 x 255 x 90.86 (RAE) |
| 1963 Jun 7 | 0639 | Payload orbit | 87.58 155 x 155 x 90.89 |
| 1963 Jun 7 | 2130?? | Payload reentered | |