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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0802.PDF
800 | Missiles and Spaceflight CENTAUR 8ET-BACK First flight test of the National Aeronautics and Space Admini stration's Centaur launch vehicle, comprising a modified Atlas booster and an upper stage powered by two RL-10 liquid hydrogen/ liquid oxygen engines, ended in an explosion 55sec after lift-off from Cape Canaveral on May 9. The programme had previously "slipped" by nearly a year. After lift-off, the Atlas was scheduled to provide power for approximately 4jmin. Halfway through this period the four insu lating panels surrounding the upper-stage hydrogen tank were to be jettisoned, and the nosecone fairing was to be released about one minute before separation of the stages. At first-stage cut-off the starting cycle of the second-stage engines was to have begun, and the cycle was to have been completed except for actual ignition. Shortly after separation of the two stages, some 5min after lift off, the orientation of the second stage towards the Sun was to have begun. The engine end of the stage was to be directed towards the Sun so that the hydrogen-tank sidewalls would be shaded from the Sun's radiation, which would otherwise have evaporated the fuel at an excessively high rate. At llmin after lift-off, the second stage would have begun a reorientation to the correct attitude for the firing of the engines and for re-entry. The engine-starting cycle was to have been repeated, with igni tion occurring about 13min after lift-off. At this point the stage would be at about 140 miles (peak altitude of the planned trajectory was 300 miles) and would be descending. The two RL-10 engines were programmed to burn for about 25sec, and the vehicle was scheduled to descend into the Sargasso Sea some 1,175 miles down- range after a 1 Smin flight. Second-stage engine operation was not in fact a primary objective of the test. Of the eight major test objectives listed by NASA, the FLIGHT International, 17 May 1%2 first was to prove the design and function of Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, and the second was to "demonstrate the struc tural strength of the vehicle to withstand the loads created during first-stage powered flight through the atmosphere." The John Glenn Film The 60min colour film depicting Lt Col John Glenn's orbital flight, which was shown at the Science Mm. eum earlier this week in conjunction with the display of the space craft Friendship 7, will be shown at the USIS Film Theatre at the American Embassy, London (Upper Brook Street entrance) throughout next week. It will be shown at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on each day from Monday to Friday inclusive. Anna Attempt An attempt to launch a Project Anna flashing- light geodetic satellite from Cape Canaveral failed on May 10, when the second stage of the Thor-Ablestar launch vehicle failed to ignite. ComSat Plan Goes Ahead The US Government plan to set up a private corporation to direct US participation in a global communi cation satellite system was approved by the House of Representatives on May 3. The bill was then passed to the Senate for approval. Television by Satellite The US Air Force announced on May 3 that television pictures had been transmitted on April 24 and 26 from California, reflected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Echo 1 satellite in orbit at approximately 1,000 miles and received in Massachusetts. The originating station was the MIT Lincoln Laboratory's field station at Camp Parks, Cali fornia, and the signals—described as being of limited quality— were received at Millstone Hill, Westford, Massachusetts. Live Polaris Fired The first long-range ballistic missile ever fired with a live nuclear warhead—outside the Soviet Union, at least- was launched by the US Navy on May 6. It was a Polaris, fired from beneath the surface of the Pacific by the submarine USS Ethan Allen. The Atomic Energy Commission and Department of De fense stated that the warhead was detonated in the atmosphere in the Christmas Island test area at about 0745hr local time. after: launch and explosion (during first-stage firing) Centaur at Cape Canaveral on May 9 (news-item above)
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