Mission Type: Orbiter
Launch Vehicle: Delta 1913 (no. 95 / Thor no. 581)
Launch Site: Eastern Test Range / launch complex 17B, Cape Canaveral, USA
NASA Center: Goddard Space Flight Center
Spacecraft Mass: about 330 kg at launch, 200 kg in lunar orbit (after solid braking motor was ejected)
Spacecraft Instruments: 1) galactic studies experiment; 2) sporadic low-frequency solar radio bursts experiment; 3) sporadic Jovian bursts experiment; 4) radio emission from terrestrial magnetosphere experiment; and 5) cosmic source observation experiment
Spacecraft Dimensions: Radio-antenna array: 183 meters from tip to tip. Main body: truncated cylinder 92 cm in diameter, about 79 cm high
Spacecraft Power: solar panels which charged six nickel-cadmium batteries
Maximum Power: 38.3 W
Antenna Diameter: 183 meters (would have been 457 m if fully extended)
Program Manager: John R. Holtz
Project Manager: John T. Shea
Principal Scientists: Dr. Nancy G. Roman (Program Scientist); Dr. Nancy G. Roman (Program Scientist)
References:
Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24, by Asif A. Siddiqi

National Space Science Data Center, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Solar System Log by Andrew Wilson, published 1987 by Jane's Publishing Co. Ltd.

After launch on a direct-ascent trajectory to the Moon and one midcourse correction on 11 June, Explorer 49 fired its insertion motor at 07:21 UT on 15 June to enter orbit around the Moon. Initial orbital parameters were 1,334 x 1,123 kilometers at 61.3? inclination. On 18 June, the spacecraft jettisoned its main engine and, using its Velocity Control Propulsion System, circularized its orbit.

The spacecraft, with a partially deployed radio-antenna array measuring 183 meters from tip to tip, was the largest spacecraft in physical dimensions to enter lunar orbit. Although the antennas did not deploy to full length, the mission goals were not affected. During its mission, Explorer 49 studied low-frequency radio emissions from the solar system (including the Sun and Jupiter) and other Galactic and extra-galactic sources. It was placed in lunar orbit to avoid terrestrial radio interference. NASA announced completion of the mission in June 1975. Last contact was in August 1977.

This was the last spacecraft the U.S. sent to the Moon for 21 years (until Clementine in 1994).