Atlas agena payload6/29/2023 ![]() ![]() The Atlas F used MA-5 engines on the booster and the sustainer.Ītlas/Agena - The Atlas/Agena combination was a series multipurpose two-stage liquid propellant rocket. As with the Atlas E, many were subsequently used for space launch operations. This marked the end of the five-year missile test program. SM-65F/HGM-16F Atlas F - Testing of the Atlas F ICBM began in August 1961 with completion coming by the end of 1962. The General Electric Radio Tracking System (GERTS) ground system acquires the vehicle at approximately liftoff + 85 seconds and performs the guidance function by means of the launch vehicle's pulse beacon decoder. ![]() An airborne autopilot programmer in the launch vehicle flight control system provides preprogrammed steering and backup discrete commands. At approximately 2 minutes into the flight the two booster engines are jettisoned and the sustainer engine continues to burn until cutoff at approximately 5 minutes 21 seconds into flight, followed by payload separation at 5 minutes 46 seconds. The Atlas E provides a total thrust of from 388,000 to 392,000 pounds.Īll Atlas engines are ignited prior to liftoff. All engines are ignited on the ground and brought up to approximately full thrust before vehicle launch. The propellant is a combination of liquid oxygen and RP-1, a highly refined kerosene. Weight at liftoff is 278,000 pounds.Ītlas E is a stage-and-a-half, liquid-fueled rocket consisting of a cluster of three Rocketdyne MA-3 engines (two boosters and one sustainer) and two small vernier engines. The Atlas is 10 feet in diameter, with a payload fairing diameter of 7 feet. Atlas E is 67 feet long, and 92 feet long with a payload shroud. Atlas E is capable of boosting a 4,000-pound payload to a 450-nmi orbit. The boosters are shipped to Vandenberg AFB, California, for modification and launch by General Dynamics Space Systems Division as needed. Known as the "Wheat Field" Atlas, refurbished Atlas E vehicles were launched from Vandenberg for NASA and USAF missions. The original Atlas E vehicles, which stood deployed on alert in the 1960s, were completely overhauled for use as space launch vehicles. The Atlas E used MA-3 engines on the booster and the sustainer. NASA History Program Office, 2018.SM-65E/CGM-16E Atlas E (2) - The test firing of the Atlas E ICBM took place in October 1960. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016. Spacecraft and Technology NationĪtlas Agena B (Atlas Agena B no. 14, 1962, returning valuable information about our celestial neighbor. It completed the first remote encounter with another planet on Dec. It should be noted the omission was not a hyphen, as sometimes erroneously reported.Įngineers quickly fixed the problems and sent Mariner 2 on its way to Venus on Aug. Also, a software error, the omission of an overbar for the symbol R for radius (R instead of R̅) in an equation, caused the program to not respond as planned. The failure was traced to a guidance antenna on the Atlas. Mariner 1 lifted off on July 22, 1962, but its rocket veered off course and the Range Safety Officer had to send a destruct command to the vehicle at T+294.5 seconds. The spacecraft included 54,000 components and were designed to maintain contact with Earth for 2,500 hours – an ambitious goal given that the Ranger was designed for only 65 hours of contact. Each carried a modest suite (about 20 pounds or 9 kilograms) of scientific instrumentation but had no imaging capability. The three spacecraft were based on the design of the Ranger probes to the Moon (therefore named Mariner R). The 56-day launch window extended from July 18 to Sept. In formulating a series of early scientific missions to Venus in early 1961, NASA originally planned two missions, P-37 and P-38, to be launched on Atlas Centaur rockets, with each spacecraft weighing about 1,246 pounds (565 kilograms).īy the time NASA formally approved the plan in September 1961, problems with the Atlas Centaur necessitated a switch to the Atlas Agena B with a reduced payload.īy late spring 1962, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), had built two flight-ready spacecraft and one spare, and had shipped the flight units to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station) in Florida to prepare them for launch. The out-of-control spacecraft and booster were destroyed for safety. It should be noted the omission was not a hyphen, as sometimes is erroneously reported. ![]() The omission of an overbar for the symbol R for radius (R instead of R̅) in an equation caused the program to not respond as planned. America's first attempt to explore Venus up close was lost to a software glitch. ![]()
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