Photo By Michael Weber | n/a read more read more
Subscribe
The Atlas-D was the first operational model of the ubiquitous rocket originally designed as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The Rocket Propulsion Lab (a precursor to the AFRL Rocket Lab) ran several “Captive” flight tests at Test Stand 1-A, where the complete ICBM (minus nukes, of course) performed entire flights without ever leaving the ground. During one of those test flights, a catastrophic failure occurred, leveling the test stand and rendering it useless. Performing the tests in this manner paid off because the scientists and engineers had eyes and instrumentation on it the whole time and were able to uncover a fault that was later corrected. The Atlas served several years as an important deterrent to nuclear war, and upon replacement, became a very useful system to launch satellites and even lofted the astronauts in the Mercury space capsules into orbit, including John Glenn’s Friendship 7 flight.
| Date Taken: | 09.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2024 07:28 |
| Story ID: | 479999 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The ATLAS Rocket, by Michael Weber, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
