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Aviation History
1976
1976 - 0060.PDF
80 FLIGHT International, w/e 10 January 1976 Spectacular bomb- burst, right, illustrates the staging of the nine strap-on solid boosters of a Thor-Delta at a height of 18 miles, 87sec after lift-off. The occasion was the launch of GOES I (the first Geostationary Opera tional Environmental Satellite) on November 25 last year. The four- stage Scout, below, is America's smallest satellite launcher; it is assembled on—and flown from—a com pact, self-erecting gan try. This particular rocket placed Ger many's Aeros satellite in orbit on December 16, 1972, from the Western Test Range at Lompoc, California. The Atlas Centaur, facing page, put into station ary orbit the first of the interim Intelsat 4As on September IS last year. These vehicles will also fly the follow-on Intel- satSs, beginning in (979 World's expendable launch vehicles By DAVID BAKER As America's Space Shuttle takes shape, some of its advocates are already re ferring to conventional launch vehicles as dinosaurs. But throwaway rockets continue to be developed vigorously in Europe, India, Japan, Russia, China and —yes—even America. ;^pv 1 m •_-4.»vi%is"! S3S WE T^-i 3-V!!*1*. -ivi-J* •?>>•'; :L-«i»-.»l; " mm» RUSSIA next year celebrates the 20th anniversary of Sputnik l's launch and, white America is making the initial glide tests of the first reusable launch vehicle, other spacefaring nations will be taking stock of the inventory of throwaway rockets and weighing their advantages against those: of the Shuttle. The heavy-lift capability of the Saturn V rockets was a special requirement of Apollo and it is doubtful whether America will generate payloads in the 100,0001b class again this century. Gone are the days when manned expeditions to Mars seemed, just around the corner and plans for giant space stations flowed from the drawing-boards. In stead Nasa has reduced the number of different payload carriers in its inventory by retiring early versions of existing rockets, and is seeking to tailor launch-vehicle procurement more closely to the needs of the present space: programme. For the next five years the space agency will be limited to maximum Earth-orbit payloads of 30,0001b, a synchro nous-orbit capability no greater than 7,8001b and am inter planetary payload of about 8,8001b. These: weights represent the limits of Nasa's largest launch vehicle, the Titan IIIE/Centaur. When the Shuttle becomes operational in 1980 low Earth-orbit payload capability will rise to 65,0001b, but evera with the Interim Upper Stag© the other payload weights will be inferior to those of the Titan/ Gentaur. Development of this rocket began at the Lewis Research Centre in 1969 and the first test flight took place: in February 1974. The Centaur stage failed to ignite and the mission was only a partial success. The second flight, in December 1974, successfully put the US-West German Helios spacecraft into a Sum-grazing trajectory; two* further flights speeded the: pair of Viking-Mars craft; on their way in August and September last year. Titan/Centaur will launch the second Helios, two Mariner spacecraft to Jupiter and Saturn in 1977, and a single Mariner to> Jupiter and Uranus in 1979. Additional planetary missions in the 1980s with this rocket are also under consideration. The launch
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