Though it was placed in a higher-than-expected orbit by a malfunctioning second stage on its launch vehicle, Explorer 32 returned data for ten months before failing due to a sudden depressurization.

It was powered by silver zinc batteries and a solar cell array mounted on the satellite exterior.

[5] This experiment was designed to obtain a description of the concentrations of the ion species in the topside ionosphere (principally atomic hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, and oxygen), as a function of time, location, and solar and geomagnetic activity.

The spectrometer sensor consisted of a 5-3 cycle ceramic tube with 5-mm grid spacing and an external guard ring assembly.

The ion current reaching the spectrometer was measured by a series of five-decade amplifiers with a particle sensitivity range of from about 10 x 1.E6 ions/cc.

An automatic calibrator functioned once during each turn-on to supply two known signals to the amplifier system and to the sweep monitor.

The neutral particles were ionized by electron bombardment and separated according to mass-to-charge ratio (M/Q) in the analyzer section of the instrument.

The first four of the fifteen 2.4-seconds steps of a cycle were devoted to correcting any zero drift of the electrometer and to recording the low- and high-sensitivity zero levels.

[7] Three cold-cathode magnetron type density gauges (Redhead ionization gauges), each with its own high voltage supply and output electrometer, were flown to measure the density of the neutral atmosphere as a function of altitude, time, latitude, and solar and geomagnetic activity.

The GCA-R5 equatorially mounted gauge had a linear range switchable electrometer output, and high-resolution current measurements were obtained.

[8] Because of its symmetrical shape, Explorer 32 was selected by the experimenters for use in determining upper atmospheric density as a function of altitude, latitude, season, and solar activity.

Density values near perigee were deduced from sequential observations of the spacecraft position, using optical (Baker-Nunn camera network) and radio and/or radar tracking techniques.

[13]: 92 Ion mass spectrometer data were acquired in real time by 13 ground stations and over remote areas by use of a spacecraft tape recorder.