CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1979-0141
EXPLORER 42 (SAS-1)
EXPLORER 42 (SAS-1) (NORAD 4797) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 5 April 1979, after 8 years, 3 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
4797
International designator
1970-107A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
12 Dec 1970San Marco platform
Re-entered (UTC)
5 Apr 1979UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
8 years, 3 months3,036 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
3.0°N to 3.0°SFinal inclination 3.0°
Mass
143 kg
Operator
GSFC
Built by
APL
Bus
SAS
Programme
SAS
Where it came down
Latitude band its orbit allowedExact position not recorded
No position was recorded for this re-entry. Its final orbit, inclined at 3.0°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 3.0°N and 3.0°S.
Life in orbit
8 years, 3 monthsEXPLORER 42 (SAS-1)’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 5 Apr 1979
4 entriesFrom the same launch
1970-107
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1979-0141
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1979-0141
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.