Lockheed Martin, which gained the Atlas through acquisition, redesigned the launcher as part of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. Soon, a new variant would come into service, the Atlas III using a Russian Energomash RD-180 as a single engine first stage and a Centaur for the second, eliminating the one and a half stage operation. In 2004 the last “classic” Atlas using the unique stage and a half design balloon was launched. Scott, achieved the first rendezvous and docking to Atlas/Agena in Earth orbit. The flight crew for the 3 day mission, astronauts Neil A. On March 16, 1966, an Atlas booster launched an Agena Target Vehicle for the Gemini 8 mission. Mated with a Centaur the Atlas was used to launch Ranger moon exploratory and GPS satellite deployment missions. Mated with an Agena upper stage the Atlas launched target vehicles for the Gemini docking missions. NASA used the Atlas for four manned Mercury flights. While its use as an ICBM was history, the Atlas became a favorite of NASA and the Air Force as a multi-purpose launcher. Both newer missiles could launch much faster than the Atlas, which required over 30 minutes of preparation time. After entering service in 1959, the Atlas was replaced by the hypergolic fueled Titian and the solid-fueled Minuteman. Its life as an ICBM was relatively short. But while the V-2 had an effective range of only a few hundred miles, the Atlas had to deliver its payload to a target more than 5,000 miles away. ![]() Like the V-2, the Atlas was powered by rocket engines that burned a mixture of liquid fuel and oxidizer. ![]() The Atlas was essentially a highly evolved version of the German V-2 missile, which Germany had used against the Allies during the waning years of World War II. Staging would have the two outboard engines jettisoned along with supporting structures, while the center sustainer engine, propellant tanks, and other structural elements remained connected through propellant depletion and engine shutdown. At launch three engines would fire using RP-1 and LOX as fuel. Convair engineers developed a “balloon” which was its fuel tank, always kept under pressure with either propellant or nitrogen gas to provide the needed rigidity. The skin of the vehicle was so thin it could not support the weight of the rocket. Convair division of General Dynamics began the development of a liquid-fueled missile with a unique stage and a half design. ULA Atlas V in advance of the X-37B launch.ĭuring the Cold War, the United States Air Force required a heavy lift ICBM. What is not commonly known by today’s space enthusiasts is that the current version of this booster can trace its origins back in 1957 when the first Atlas flew. “United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket, with 200th Centaur, Successfully Launches Mobile User Objective System-1 Mission.”, accessed June 29, 2012.Recently, the X-37B spaceplane lifted off from Cape Canaveral using a United Space Alliance Atlas V as a booster. “National Security Space Launch Report 2006.” “Friendship 7: John Glenn’s spacecraft and its flight.” The Plain Dealer. “Atlas Agena D SLV-3A.”, accessed June 29, 2012. Atlas launch vehicles have also placed national security, communications, Earth observation and weather monitoring satellites into orbit around the Earth, making it possible for our modern world to stay connected and protected through advancements in technology and communication. ![]() Atlas-Centaurs launched the Pioneer deep space probes in the early 1970s, which sent back information on Saturn, Jupiter and the farthest reaches of the solar system. But Atlas launch vehicles launched more than 100 scientific missions from 1960-1978, including Mariner 4’s flyby of Mars in 1964, which delivered the first up-close photographs of another planet. By the time he splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean later that same afternoon, he was a worldwide celebrity and an icon of human spaceflight along with Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union.īy 1965, Atlas ICBMs were taken off alert status. ![]() Traveling more than 75,000 miles in just under five hours, he orbited the planet three times. Ten minutes later, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. On February 20, 1962, John Glenn and the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft were launched on an Atlas-Agena rocket. The Atlas legacy has gone on to include science and exploration missions that have been fundamental to the understanding of space and the Earth itself. Eisenhower’s Christmas greeting to the world. Though initially designed to carry nuclear warheads, by 1958, an Atlas rocket successfully launched SCORE, the United States’ first communications satellite, which delivered President Dwight D.
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