Editing Explorer 2 (section)

=== Resistance Thermometers ===
The Explorer 2 satellite was equipped with four [[resistance thermometer]]s that made direct temperature measurements, three external and one internal. The primary purpose of the experiment was to study the efficacy of passive thermal control (in this case, insulation and exterior coatings) on the exterior and interior of a satellite, and to document the temperature of the instrumentation to study its effect on instrument operation.<ref name="Instrument4">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1958-001A-04|title=Experiment: Resistance Thermometers|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020 |access-date=14 February 2021}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

==== Thermometers ====
The thermometer designated external temperature gauge no. 1 was mounted on the outer hull at the bottom of the upper (instrumentation) section of the satellite. This measured the cylinder skin temperature over a range of -50&nbsp;°C to +110&nbsp;°C, with an accuracy of 4&nbsp;°C over the range -10&nbsp;°C to +80&nbsp;°C. External temperature gauge no. 2 was mounted along the bottom of the nose cone to measure the nose cone skin temperature. It could cover a range of -50&nbsp;°C to +220&nbsp;°C. The accuracy was 16&nbsp;°C at a temperature of 50&nbsp;°C and 18&nbsp;°C at 0&nbsp;°C. External temperature gauge no. 3 was mounted at the top of the nose cone and measured the stagnation-point temperature. It covered from -50&nbsp;°C to +450&nbsp;°C with an accuracy of approximately 20&nbsp;°C.<ref name="Instrument4"/>

The internal temperature gauge was mounted in the high powered transmitter at the base of the instrumentation section. It could cover a range of -60&nbsp;°C to +110&nbsp;°C. The accuracy was 2&nbsp;°C at temperatures from 0&nbsp;°C to +30&nbsp;°C and fell off to an accuracy of 20&nbsp;°C at a temperature of 90&nbsp;°C. External temperature gauges no. 2 and no. 3 transmitted on the low-powered (10 mW, 108.00-MHz) transmitter, and the other two gauges transmitted on the high-powered (60 mW, 108.03-MHz) transmitter. Additionally, the nose cone internal temperature could be indirectly estimated by measuring the frequency of the cosmic ray channel. Calibrations of the oscillator indicate the internal nose cone temperature could be known within 12&nbsp;°C from 0 to +25&nbsp;°C, and to 6&nbsp;°C for 25 to 50&nbsp;°C.<ref name="Instrument4"/>