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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0640.PDF
Missiles and Spaceflight . . . MISSILE-AGE PRODUCTION TTHE pictures on this and the following page are the first to be-*• released showing intermediate-range and intercontinental mis- siles in volume production in America. The considerable variationsin structural characteristics—and therefore of production and fabri- cation methods—can be appreciated, particularly between the Thorbeing produced at Douglas Santa Monica and the Atlas at Convair Astronautics. None of the pictures, however, provides muchinformation on the considerable backing of large machine tools and special jigs required in the production of the more advanced structures employed in weapons such as Jupiter and Atlas.Because Atlas was placed on a "crash" basis at a very early stage, in 1954, the engineering design and tooling productionstages were substantially telescoped. Besides effecting a time- saving of many months in comparison with the conventionalprocedure, this has allowed the tool-designers to sit in on the earliest design-stages in order to monitor progress and makedetailed estimates of new equipment and techniques long before release of the final drawings. In terms of missiles produced, the (Top left) At least a dozen Atlas air- frames, including some for production rounds, mounted in elevated frames for testing. Equipment is in trenches beneath each missile. The boost sec- tions at upper left hare been with- drawn to allow simultaneous installa- tion of all three engines. Atlas are sent from here to static-firing sites at Sycamore Canyon and Edwards A.F.B., and to flight-test at Vanden- berg A.F.B. or Patrick A.F.B. (Cape Canaveral, Florida) (Top right) Jupiter boost assembly set up in a pit for equipment testing. In the background are some of the heavy presses and other machinery used for fabrication. Chrysler are responsible for production (Right) Thor in production at Douglas' Santo Monica plant. The warhead is mounted in the nearer end of the air- rfom? and components of the A.C. Spark Plug inertial-guidance system are being installed in the left-hand anframe. Retro-rockets to prevent the missile overtaking the nose-cone after separation are covered by the small bulges visible above and below the tody where the tapered section begins
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