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Explorer 16
Launch SuccessfulLaunch Details
Date: 16 Dec 1962, 02:33 pm UTC
Rocket: Scout X-3 (Scout)
Provider: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission
Type: Earth Science
Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
Pad: Launch Area 3, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Mission Description
Explorer 16 was the second in the series of micrometeoroid satellites orbited by NASA. Its purpose was to obtain data on the near-earth meteoroid environment, thus providing an accurate estimate of the probability of penetration in spacecraft structures by meteoroids and allowing a more confident definition of the relationship between penetration flux and material thickness to be derived.