section_path: Commemoration/Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3
section_name: Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3
paragraph_text: Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3
  
  The third in NASA 's Orbiting Astronomical Observatory series of missions, launched on 21 August 1972, was named Copernicus after its successful launch. The satellite carried an X-ray detector and an ultraviolet telescope, and operated until February 1981.