The Small Scientific Satellite (S3) Program and Its First Payload

The Small Scientific Satellite (S3) program provides a scientific "bench" which can be used by experimenters for a wide variety of investigations in the magnetosphere and near interplanetary space, employing the Scout launch vehicle. In the conduct of these scientific missions, the S3 program affords the experimenter control over parameters affecting the investigation, e. g. orbit, attitude control, and orientation. In addition, complete in-flight control of the data format is available through the use of an on-board set of stored program instructions which govern the collection of data and which are reprogrammable via ground command. Many of the spacecraft subsystems are modular and are used according to the experimenter's needs. This talk will describe the approach to the S3 program, the characteristics of the various subsystems, research capabilities of the program, and the first payload as a space nuclear instrumentation system.