![]() ![]() Mariner 3 was launched at 2:22 PM EST on November 5, 1964, from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 13. ![]() Atlas vehicle 289D was erected on the pad on August 17, with the backup Mariner probe and booster (Atlas 288D) erected on LC-12 on September 28. Of the two Atlas-Agena pads at Cape Canaveral, LC-13 became available first following the launch of an Air Force Vela satellite in July 1964. Mariner 3 also utilized a new, larger fiberglass payload fairing. Because of the greater mass, the new Agena D stage would be used instead of the Agena B. Mariner 2 had been a modified Ranger lunar probe, however Mariner 3 used a new, larger bus with four solar panels, a TV camera, and additional instrumentation. It was the third of ten spacecraft within the Mariner program. Īlthough the launch was initially successful, there was a separation issue and Mariner 3 stopped responding when its batteries ran out of power. Air Force, or the Department of Defense, of the external website, or the information, products or services contained therein.Mariner 3 (together with Mariner 4 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was one of two identical deep-space probes designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA's Mariner-Mars 1964 project that were intended to conduct close-up (flyby) scientific observations of the planet Mars and transmit information on interplanetary space and the space surrounding Mars, televised images of the Martian surface and radio occultation data of spacecraft signals as affected by the Martian atmosphere back to Earth. Note: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the National Museum of the USAF, the U.S. ![]() * In 2005 Rocketdyne became Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.Ĭlick here to return to the Missile Gallery. propellant)Įngine: Bell XLR81-BA-5 of 15,500 lbs. The aircraft that recovered the payload, C-119J (S/N 51-8037) is on display at the museum.Įngine: Rocketdyne* LR-79-7 of 150,000 lbs. ![]() reconnaissance satellite to finally return intelligence imagery after successful recovery from orbit. 19, 1960, following several earlier attempts, Discoverer XIV was the first U.S. Not only did the boosters have to place satellites in precise orbits, the satellites' cameras had to function perfectly and the film had to be recovered after the satellites successfully re-entered the atmosphere. Unlike reconnaissance aircraft, an orbiting satellite placed no crew members in harm's way and was immune to enemy air defenses.ĭeveloping dependable satellite imaging systems, though, was difficult. As boosters like Thor Agena became operational, satellites gave the United States a new capability to see from space what the USSR and other communist nations were doing. The Discoverer satellites' secret identity as Corona intelligence imaging platforms was closely guarded. satellite launch vehicles of the Cold War era. Like Thor, Agena underwent several changes over its lifetime, and it proved to be one of the most successful U.S. The Thor-Agena combination was able to put Corona satellites into elliptical orbits that ranged as far as 1,049 miles and as close as 61 miles to the earth. The Thor first stage launched the Agena and its satellite payload into a low orbit, then the Agena boosted the satellite into its final, higher orbit. Thor and Agena vehicles worked together to put satellites into orbit. The long-lived Delta rocket series, based on refinements of the original Thor design, operated through the end of the Cold War and beyond. Though Thor was created quickly as an interim nuclear deterrent, it later became a very successful satellite launch vehicle. It borrowed engine and guidance technology from the developing Atlas program, and Thor IRBMs were operational in Great Britain from 1959 to 1963. Originally, Thor was designed as an intermediate-range nuclear ballistic missile (IRBM) in 1956. Thor was the first vehicle available to carry Agenas. At first, the Agena vehicle was meant to be launched by Atlas boosters, but the 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik - the first satellite - sped up the U.S. The Thor Agena A launch vehicle combined a Thor ballistic missile (similar to the nuclear-armed version on display in the museum's Missile & Space Gallery, but designated SLV-2 or Space Launch Vehicle-2) with an Agena upper stage. The USAF and the Central Intelligence Agency jointly managed Corona, which was known to the public as the Discoverer research satellite program. These satellites, secretly code-named Corona, took pictures of the Soviet Union's bomber and missile bases during the Cold War. Air Force launched the world's first space photo reconnaissance satellites using a rocket like the Thor Agena A on display. ![]()
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