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First Titan-Centaur Launch Test
Wall Art and Photo Gifts from Space Images
First Titan-Centaur Launch Test
The first Titan/Centaur lifted off from Complex 41 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station at 9:48 AM EDT. The Titan stages burned as programmed, but when the Centaur stage failed to ignite, the Range Safety Officer destroyed it. The new NASA rocket was launched on a proof of concept flight designed to prepare it for twin Viking launches to Mars in 1975 and other missions involving heavy payloads. The 160-foot-tall rocket combines the Air Force Titan III with the NASA high-energy Centaur final stage. The twin solid rocket boosters have a combined liftoff thrust of 2.4 million pounds. Aboard Titan/ Centaur on its proof of concept flight were a dynamic simulator of the Viking spacecraft and a small scientific satellite (SPHINX) designed to determine how high voltage solar cells, insulators, and conductors are affected by the charges particles in space. KSCs Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate conducted the launch. For more information about Titan and Centaur, please see Chapters 4 and 8, respectively, in Roger Launius and Dennis Jenkins book To Reach the High Frontier published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2002
Space Image feature a selection of NASA's incredible imagery
Media ID 635532
© NASA
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This print captures the historic moment of the First Titan-Centaur Launch Test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. The 160-foot-tall rocket, a combination of the Air Force Titan III and NASA's high-energy Centaur final stage, soared into the sky with great anticipation. However, as fate would have it, this maiden flight encountered an unexpected setback when the Centaur stage failed to ignite. In order to ensure safety protocols were followed, the Range Safety Officer made a difficult decision to destroy the non-functioning stage. Despite this setback, this proof of concept flight was crucial in preparing for future missions involving heavy payloads and twin Viking launches to Mars in 1975. Onboard this groundbreaking mission were two significant components: a dynamic simulator of the Viking spacecraft and a small scientific satellite called SPHINX. The latter aimed to study how high voltage solar cells, insulators, and conductors are affected by charged particles in space. The launch itself was conducted by KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate, marking another milestone in their pursuit of exploring outer space. For further insights into both Titan and Centaur rockets' development and capabilities mentioned here, readers can refer to Chapters 4 and 8 respectively in Roger Launius and Dennis Jenkins' book "To Reach the High Frontier" published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2002 (not affiliated with any company). This image serves as a testament to humanity's unwavering determination towards reaching new frontiers beyond our planet Earth.
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