Pegasus, Card No 16 (RaceIntoSpace 1971)
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Card No. 16: Pegasus
Three of these huge satellites were sent into Earth-orbit in 1965 to test mock-ups of the Apollo command and service modules and study the size and frequency of micro-meteoroids.
Each craft had concertina 'wings' spanning 100 feet – a sandwich of Mylar and copper, carrying a mild electric current; when struck by a small particle a short-circuit was created for a fraction of a second, and the results telemetered to Earth.
By mid-1966 the satellites had recorded more than 1,100 impacts, but none sufficiently damaging damaging to deter the Apollo Moon flights.
