SOLRAD 8 was a spin-stabilized satellite oriented with its spin axis perpendicular to the sun-satellite line so that the 14 solar X-ray[4] and ultraviolet photometers[5] pointing radially outward from its equatorial belt viewed the sun on each revolution.

[9] At that time, ground command succeeded in reactivating spinup to 78 rpm, which exhausted the gas supply.

Eight ion chambers and two Geiger counters covering the spectral regions from 0.5 A to 60 A and 1080 A to 1350 A were mounted perpendicular to the satellite spin axis.

The experiment provided good data for all detectors from 27 November 1965 to 24 August 1967, with the following exceptions: (1) the Lyman-alpha detector and the UV detectors were saturated for normal aspect angles, (2) the core memory failed at launch so that the data were collected in real-time telemetry only, and (3) a gradual decrease in spin rate caused the aspect angle to drift away from normal in the second year of operation.

[11] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.