![]() NASA launched the Surveyor program lunar lander spacecraft and most of the Mars-bound Mariner program spacecraft with Atlas-Centaur launch vehicles. A specially-enhanced Template:How version of the Atlas D vehicle for mating with Centaur stages the Atlas's engines were upgraded and the structure reinforced for the large upper stage, along with elongated fuel tanks.īeginning in 1963, the liquid hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage was also used on dozens of Atlas launches. Launches were conducted from two pads of the Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Atlas-Centaur was an expendable launch system derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile. Each of the Agena target vehicles used for the later space rendezvous practice missions of Gemini was launched on an Atlas rocket.Ītlas-Centaur Main article: Atlas-Centaur NASA used them in the Ranger program to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon and for Mariner 2, the first spacecraft to fly by another planet. The United States Air Force, NRO and CIA used them to launch SIGINT satellites. Identical Atlas boosters successfully launched three more manned Mercury orbital missions from 1962 to 1963.Ītlas-Agena Main article: Atlas-Agenaīeginning in 1960, the Agena upper-stage, powered by hypergolic propellant, was used extensively on Atlas launch vehicles. On Februit launched Friendship 7, which made three earth orbits carrying John Glenn, the first United States astronaut to orbit the Earth. Mercury program Main article: Atlas LV-3BĪtlas boosters were also used for the last four manned Project Mercury missions, the first United States manned space program. Missiles converted into Atlas E/F "space boosters" were used to launch the early "Block I" GPS satellites. Many were eventually converted to orbital launch vehicles after they were removed from service as missiles. The SM-65 Atlas was used as a first stage for satellite launch vehicles for half a century. It was pressure in the tanks that gave the rigidity required for space flight. The rockets were made from very thin stainless steel that offered minimal or no rigid support. The Atlas booster was unusual in its use of balloon tanks for holding its fuel. The Atlas boosters would collapse under their own weight if not kept pressurized with nitrogen gas in the tank, even when not fueled. On December 18, 1958, an Atlas was used to launch the Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment ( SCORE) satellite, which was "The first prototype of a communications satellite, and the first test of any satellite for direct practical applications." The satellite broadcast President Eisenhower's pre-recorded Christmas message around the world. Many were eventually converted to orbital launch vehicles after they were removed from service as missiles.Įarly Atlas rockets were also built specifically for non-military uses. ![]() ![]() Approximately 350 Atlas missiles were built. The first successful test launch of an SM-65 Atlas missile was on December 17, 1957. Variants SM-65 Atlas missile Main article: SM-65 Atlas 1.5 Launch vehicles based on original Atlas ICBM. ![]() More than 300 Atlas launches have been conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and 285 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It also reflected the parent company of Convair, the Atlas Corporation. Using the name of a mighty titan from Greek mythology reflected the missile's place as the biggest and most powerful to date. The Atlas name was originally proposed by Karel Bossart and his design team working at Convair on project MX-1593. The Atlas V is still in service, with launches planned until 2020. There were only six launches of the Atlas III, all between 20. Various Atlas II models were launched 63 times between 19. From 1962 to 1963, Atlas boosters launched the first four American astronauts to orbit the Earth. The missiles saw only brief ICBM service, and the last squadron was taken off operational alert in 1965. It was a liquid-fuel rocket burning liquid oxygen and RP-1 in three engines configured in an unusual "stage-and-a-half" or "Parallel Staging" design: its two outboard booster engines were jettisoned during ascent, while its center sustainer engine, fuel tanks and other structural elements were retained into orbit. The original Atlas missile was designed in the late 1950s and produced by the Convair Division of General Dynamics, to be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Atlas is a family of American missiles and space launch vehicles.
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