File:Unloading Atlas Launch Vehicle - GPN-2003-00041.jpg
Summary
The Atlas launch vehicle is shown being unloaded from a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-133B-DL Cargomaster (s/n 59-0529) at CapeCanaveral, Florida. This vehicle was expected to launch aMercury spacecraft (without any astronauts aboard), built byMcDonnell Aircraft Corp., into orbit. The Atlas attempted toplace the Mercury spacecraft into its first orbital flight. Thespacecraft was supposed to be launched in an orbital flight pathand reentry was to be initiated about 90 minutes later as thecraft neared the end of the first orbit. Unfortunately, thisAtlas exploded at launch. Atlas was designed to launch payloadsinto low Earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. NASA first launched Atlas as a spacelaunch vehicle in 1958. Project SCORE, the first communicationssatellite that transmitted President Eisenhower's pre-recorded Christmas speech around the world, was launched on an Atlas. Forall three robotic lunar exploration programs, Atlas was used. Atlas/ Centaur vehicles launched both Mariner and Pioneerplanetary probes. The current operational Atlas II family has a100% mission success rating. For more information about Atlas, please see Chapter 2 in Roger Launius and Dennis Jenkins' bookTo Reach the High Frontier published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2002.
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File history
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 12:08, 4 January 2017 | | 2,578 × 2,017 (3.67 MB) | 127.0.0.1 (talk) | The Atlas launch vehicle is shown being unloaded from a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-133B-DL <i>Cargomaster</i> (s/n 59-0529) at CapeCanaveral, Florida. This vehicle was expected to launch aMercury spacecraft (without any astronauts aboard), built byMcDonnell Aircraft Corp., into orbit. The Atlas attempted toplace the Mercury spacecraft into its first orbital flight. Thespacecraft was supposed to be launched in an orbital flight pathand reentry was to be initiated about 90 minutes later as thecraft neared the end of the first orbit. Unfortunately, thisAtlas exploded at launch. Atlas was designed to launch payloadsinto low Earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. NASA first launched Atlas as a spacelaunch vehicle in 1958. Project SCORE, the first communicationssatellite that transmitted President Eisenhower's pre-recorded Christmas speech around the world, was launched on an Atlas. Forall three robotic lunar exploration programs, Atlas was used. Atlas/ Centaur vehicles launched both Mariner and Pioneerplanetary probes. The current operational Atlas II family has a100% mission success rating. For more information about Atlas, please see Chapter 2 in Roger Launius and Dennis Jenkins' bookTo Reach the High Frontier published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2002. |
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