The Thor History

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TH E THOR HISTORY

MAV 1963DOUGLAS REPORT SM-41860

AP P ROV E D BY: W.H.. HOOPERC H I E F . T H O R S YS TE M S E N G I N E E R I N G

AEROSPACE SYSTEMS ENG INEERIN GDOUGLAS M/SS/LE &?SPACE SYS7EMS D /V /S /UN


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This his to ry i s intended a s a quick orientation source andzs a ready-reference f o r review of the Thor and i t s sys-ten-s. The rep ort b r i e f l y s t a t e s the development of Thor,s~c.p.!~arizesnd chronicles Thor missile and booster launch-i n g ~ , rovides i l l us t ra t ion s and descr ip t ions of the vehic lesys tu ,~s , e la tes th e i r genealo~y, expla ins s m e of the per-formance c a w b i l i t i e s of t he Thor and Thor-based v ehi cle sused, and focuses atten tio n t o the exploration of space byDouglas Airc raP t Cmpmy, Inc. (MC ).

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PREFACE

The purpose of The Thor Hi stor y i s t o survey th e launchrec ord of the Thor Weapon, Special Weapon, and Space Systems;give a system atic account of th e major events; and reviewThor's p ar t ic ipat ion i n the mil i tary and space programs ofth i s n at io n.

The period covered i s from December 27, 1955, t he da te of t hef i r s t contract award, through May, 1963.


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TABm OF CONTENTS

Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .asic Organization and Objectives 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .asic Developnental Philosophy 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . .arly Research and Development Launches 4Transition to ICBM with Space Capabilities=.Mult i.Stage Vehicles . 6

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .nitial Lwnar and Space Probes 8Initial Operational Capability.. AMR and PMR . . . . . . . . . . . 8.Overseas Deployment in the U "Project Ehily" . . . . . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ombat Training Launches and the RAF 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .oncurrent Programs 12

1. . . . . . . . . . . . .r


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WLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

PageImproved Space System for Satellites and Probes . . . . . . . . . 29S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Appendices

Appendix 1 Thor "Family Tree" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Appendix 2 Configuration Sketches and Identifications . . . . 35Appendix 3 Thor Launch Record, Weapon and Space Systems . . , 63Appendix 4 Thor-Boosted Space Satellites and Probes , . . . . 71Appendix 5 Thor-Boosted Payload, Orbit, and Trajectory Data . 79Appendix 6 Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85


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LIST OF IZ,LUSTRATIONS

Figure-2 Page-R & D Missile Prepares for Launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5n o r Able, F~rerunner f Thor Multi-ISLege Veh%clerr,Launches ICBM Nose Cone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Thor Able I Launches Space Probe t o Record Dista nce i nSpace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Thor Ins t a l l a t i on i n the UK was Completed by Douglas,USAF, and th e B r it i s h Ahead of Schedule . . . . . . , . . 11RAF Crews Launch Thors i n Less th an 15 Minutes. . . . . . . 13Thor Able I1 Launches PGRTV--First Thor-Boosted Nose ConeRecovered from the Sea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Thor Agena A Prep ares t o Launch a Payload . . . . . . . . . 16Thor Able I11 Prepares t o Launch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Thor Able I1 (sTV), Su cc es sf ul ly Launched by Thor; onSecond Try Achieved Most Accurate U.S. Or bit t o t h a tDate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Thor Able IV Launches a Space Probe i n t o Sol ar O rb it BetweenE a r t h a n d V e n u s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . 2 1Thor Ablestar Made i t s Debut by Orbiting a NavigationalS ~ t e l l i t e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Thor Delta Poin ts an Orbiting So lar Observatory a t Space . 24First Thor &ena B having a Block I1 m i n e w it h I ncre as edThrust, and Second-Stage In- Fli ght Re sta rt Capa bil ity . . 26Thor AVT Pion eers f o r World Communications S a t e l l i t e s . . . 27


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Contract AwardThe Dews Ai rc ra ft Company laas a~mrded he research and development con-tr ac t f or the Thor intermediate-range b al li st ic missile (~RBM)Iieapon System31% (WS-31%) on December 27, 1955.BackgroundThe United States A i r Force had been given the responsibility for intercon-ti ne nt al ba ll is ti c missile programs, and la te r, fo r lXEll1 programs a s w e l l .The I C B 4 programs were proceedim favorably, but such extended-range (5,0001

L mile) missiles rere s t i l l years atray from being operational. Just over thehorizon, Red Russia ' ~ms righte ning t he sky tri th mushrocxning themonuclearexperiments, and developing rocket propulsion systems capable of carrying%he l e t h a l payloads over very g rea t distances.The United St at es had an Immediate deter ren t fo rce, th e S trat eg ic A i r Command" (SAC), but it was a question trhether bm bers alone 1mu3.d be su ff ic ie nt t okeep Red Russia i n check. Some weapon wi th in easy r e ta l i a to ry range ~ m sneeded. The deter rent n iss i le ~ ~ 0 u l . dave t o be capable of hi tt in g a ta rge t1,500 nau tic al miles away, and i t s r ef lex act ion had t o be fast--15 minutesfrom th e s t a r t of the countdown.The nominal range of 1,500 nautical miles,excluded effective deployment in

Pontinental North America. The range limitation posed the problem of obtain-3.w in te rn at io na l agreements,which rmuld permit th e overseas deployment ofthe treapon system.

an atmosphere of mi li ta ry urgency and int ense in te rn at io na l concern, boldthinking and co rrec t deci sion s had t o be made quiclcly t o overcame th e manyproblems. Such decisions required not only confident but experienced minds.

~ a s i c rganization and ObjectivesDouglas rms selected because i t had a background of missile experience whichst ar te d i n 1941, and a record of accmplishments which inspired confidence.


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Associated with Doughs in the project under the over-all direction of theBaUis%ic EIissile Division of the ARDC Irere the follming contractors:

Rocketdyne Division of North derican Aviation Corporation, forthe propulsion system.A. C. Spark Plug Division of General ldotors Cornoration, for theguidance systen.General Electric Campany, for the nose cone.Sandia Corporation, for the warhead.

The United States Air Force placed contracting responsibilities under theBallistic Missile Office of the Air Materiel Command. The Ramo-IJooldridgeCorporation through its Guided 14issile Research provided technical. direction.Douglas, as associate contractor, was given the responsibility for fabricat-ing the airframe, developing the ground-support equipent, and integratingthe system.Basic Developnental. PhilosophxAs associate contractor, Douglas had to coordinate, not only with otherassociate contractors, but also with the diverse activities of hundreds ofvendors and subcontractors.New research and developnent concepts had to be evolved. It was custamaryto develop the missile first, and then introduce the ground-support equip-ment as each piece was needed. Such development was inexpensive and verysafe, both in the attainment of the final design and the preservation ofreputations--but, it would take this nation five or more years to do thejob. The gravity of the intermtional situation demanded a compressed, tightschedule.

- ' A .concept as evolved to meet the development problen. It was called11concurrency. One of its strongest advocates at that mament of history wasBernard A. Schriever (at that time Mjor ~enend.) n ccar.mand of the USAF,Ballistic Ydssile Division.


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"~oncurrency" ~ She bold philosophy of doing all things necessary t o beready for the operational use of the system rdxi.le the weapon was s t i l l underdevelopment. I f the ri s k m s properly calculated, years vere chopped offth e schedule--if not, th e men ~Jhochanced it had placed their careers on thechopping block.

bThe de ve lo pe nt had t o be done quickly. The program vas clearly on a9mxm.m rPalc" ba aPa . T h l a memt t ha t the f i r s t objective was gross perfor-m c e , and th at t ot a l operational rel ia bi li ty could only be secondary.Needed sc ie nt if ic o r engineering '%reakthroughstl had t o be done vi th in th eyear. This posed problems. For ewmple, h m can you t e l l an inventor t o .invent by a forecast date? Or , how can you t e l l him th at there i s no timeUOT-redn the schedule fo r a mistake?One decision tha t was made e ar ly i n the program tras t o freez e t he m iss il econfigura+ion design; another, II&S t o i nt en si fy the development and te st in gproslam. These two decisions, i n conjuction with a well-coordinated team ofcontractors, nlade it mandatory t o design and manufacture r ig ht th e f i r s tL&me. It neant con structing f a c i l i t i e s while th e canrponents they wou3.d t e s t*m r e s t i l l on the dralring boards.Even the ground-support equipment (=) T J ~ S esigned and placed i n volumeproduction so t ha t i t 1~0ul.d e available as the missile approached operation-al status. The gm d- su gp or t equipnent and the missile were designed t o betrans?or'czble i n th e C-3.24 and C-133, i n order t o expedite oversea s deploy-ment.T,lith th e need fo r speed important, the United St at es A i r Force, relyineheavily on the extensive Douglas missile design and production experience,6ecided 'GO mnufacture the f i r s t Thor with production tooling, skipping thecustauzry prototype stage.Douglas and the United States A i r Force jointly financed a s t a t i c t e s t f i r i n gf a c i l i t y f o r t he IRE3bI a t Sacramento, California. The site was leased, withan option t o buy, from Aerojet General Corporation. The s t a t i c t e s t f i r i n gpemitted the checking out and testing of the precise missile systems as anint eLm ted un it Trithout expending a missile.


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Althou& Thor posed problems of a nature and magnitude never before encoun-tered, th e ir solution s under a ti gh t time schedule contributed grea tly t ocompany pre stig e i n the miss ile fi el d.Early Research and Develqent LaunchesOn October 26, 1956, ju st 10 months a f t e r the cont ract was signed, Doughsdelivered the f i r s t Thor missile.It was on January 25, 1957, only 13 months from the contract date, that thef i r s t Thor stood on the pad a t the A i r Forp Missile Training Center ( AEE~~Y : ) ,Cape Canaveral, Florida. Everyone enjoys reporting a success. Hmrever, the.f i r s t Thor malflmctioned. Just as i t l i f t e d from the pad, th e liq ui d oxygens t a r t tank ruptured. Yet, short a s the flight was, it was not a t o t a l fa i l -ure. Scientific equipment recorded data which proved that the basic missileconcept was valid.Early f ir in gs of the "crash" program were chi ef ly concerned with researchand technological investigations i n order t o achieve the i n i t i a l operational.capability of a tactical system within the shortest time. It was t he f i f t hni ss il e, Se ria l Nmber 105, th at accmplished the f i r s t completely successfulf l igh t. Soon successes b e ~o eclipse the so-called "failures."Missi le Serial Number 109 proved r e could, del ive r th e IRBlI punch. The highacceleration flight pushed do~mrangemwe than 2,000 nautical miles. It wasSeriaJ. ITmber l l3 , the nev i n e r t i a l guidance system, th a t gave an ex-cellent performance in directing the missile t o i t s target .The series of Thor missile research and development firings f'rum Cape CanaveraLyielded information v i t a l t o all of the nation's ballistic missile programs.-Figure 1 s a photograph of an ea.rly R & D launching. Also, see th e footnote1below.' ~ t he reader 's option, the reading of t h i s te x t may be coordinated rrlth thevarious recapitulations and illu st rat io ns i n the Appendix of t h i s history.These visuaL aids and data pe rtain to: models, mis sil es, boosters, spaceveh icle systems, programs, payloads, and s a t e l l i t e s or probes.


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Transition to ICBM with Space Capabilities--Multi-Stage VehiclesThe Thor lRBM aided i n the development of t he ICBM program i n many ways. Ital so aided i n development of t h i s na tion's space program.For example, th e United Stat es A i r Force needed a rel ia bl e booster t o te s t a

ane ~r ly eveloped ab la tiv e nose cone a t ICBM re-entry distances rand 6;peeds.This scientific and techn ical inqui sitive ness le d t o thre e Advanced Re-entryTest Vehicle (RTV) launchings. On April 23, 1958, th e f i r s t attempt tms madet o launch the two-stage vehic le, designated as Thor Able. It malfunctioned,but those launched on July 9 and July 23 of that year were successful. Thenose cones were propelled more. than 5,000 na uti ca l miles downrange with al-most unbelievable accuracy. That was the f i r s t time re-en try was achievedwith a full . scale ICBM nose cone a t the ICBM speed and range. In fa ct , thosetwo s p e c i d weapon system versions were th e f i r s t United S tate s b a l l i s t i cmi ssi le s t o achieve a su rface range gr eat er than 5,000 nau tic al miles.

- Figure 2 i s a photograph of the Thor Able s pe cia l weapon system.Besides a iding i n determining fu rt he r development of 1CBE.I: nose cones, the.re-entky t e s t vehic les served as precursors of Thor as a booster of m u l t i -stage space vehicles . The RTVs were not considered t o be launched by th eR & D weapon system (WS-3l%), but by a special weapon system--Thor Able--with long range and space capabilities.The Thor lR?3M was the f i r s t stage, or booster, f o r a.second-stage Able, aliquid-propellant propulsion system developed by the Aerojet General Corpor-ation.Subsequent recwery of a nose cone confirmed that the ablative techniquecould withstand extreme re-entry conditions.Because of successes such a s these, Thor was se lec ted, and i t s program ex-panded t o include t he production of mi ss ile s and boos ters having long rangeand space ca pa bi li ti es . Thor became the United Sta te s8 f i r s t double-programedsystem. That choice ~ m s ade even before the vehic le T J ~ S eclared o~ era t io na la s a mil it ar y weapon.


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THOR ABLE, FORERUNNER OF THOR MULTI-STAGE VEHICLES,LAUNCHES ICBM NOSE CONE

FIGURE 2


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I n i t i a l Lunar and Space ProbesAnother system evolved during the R & D phase. The United States A i r Force,operating under management of the Defense Department's Advanced ResearchProjects Agency (ARPA), began a space probe program, On August 17, 1958,the Thor Able I, a space system of four stages, made an unsuccessfulattempt t o o r b it the moon.On October 11, 1958, the Thor Able I space system dispatched a SpaceTechnology Laboratories ' payload, approximately 78,000 na ut ic al miles in toth e vastne ss of space. That was th e gre at es t dista nce at ta in ed by anyUnited St at es probe up t o th a t time. The Thor Able I space system i sshown i n Fi gur e 3 .Another Probe followed, but was unsu ccess ful due t o a thi rd -s tag e f a i lu r e .I n i t i a l Oper ational Capability--AMR and PMRDespite those ext ra te rr es tr ia l act iv i t ie s placed upon the Thor by the spacerace, Weapon System 315A's R & D program had come t o f r u i t i o n . On November.5, 1958, th e I n i t i a l Ope rati ona l Ca pa bil ity (IOC) program commenced with th ef i r s t launch attempt of the DM-18~~ o u ~ l a so d e l - 1 8 ~ )' Although the launch-ing aborted, th e innovation of DM-18A and the IOC program marked the end ofany further R & D launches of the DM-18. The next IOC launch, November 26,1958, was a success. System r e l i a b i l i t y began t o improve sharp ly.Unt i l th is t ime, a l l launching8 had been conducted from the AFMTC, CapeCanaveral, over the A tla nt ic Mi ss ile Range ( A M R ) .The date, December 16 , 1958, has sp ec ial significan ce . The Thor was chosenas the i n i t i a l ba l l i s t i c missi le t o be f i r ed from the new Vandenberg A i rForce Base (VAFB) mis si le fa c i l i t y on the West coast . Furthermore, th at datemarked the f i r s t cm ba t tra ini ng launch (CTL) of a Thor by an A i r Forceh i s s i l e DM-18 s des ig na te d as XSM-75 by the Air Force; it means: Experi-mental St ra tegi c Missi le . The Air Force designat ion SM-75 means: S tr a t eg icMis sile , th e equiv alent of Douglas' iden t i f ic at ion of th e operat ional DM-18A.


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Stra teg ic A i r Carmtland crew. The launch tms a success. On t he same day,another success ful Thor l i f to f f ~ m s cored a t the AEWE on the East coast.The British Royal A i r Force soon joined Douglas, th e th e United Sta te s A i rForce, i n IOC and CTL Thor fi ri ng s w e r two ranges, v it h th e cumulativeexperience st ea di ly increasing the mapon system re li ab il it y .Overseas Deployment in the UK--PraJect ESnflyThe Royal A i r Force was being tr ai ne d t o man Thor squadrons being deployedi n .the United Kingdom ( UK ) . The establishment of Thor launch s i t e s i n theUK had a marlced e f f ec t on m i li t a ry and diplomatic thinking . The accomplish-ment of th e program, ca ll ed "Pr oject Ehily," i s regarded as one of t he mostd i f f i cu l t t a sks of a l l time. Establishing four c mpl ete Thor IRBM squadronsa t overseas bases was a huge undertaking. The squadrons were di sper sed over20 existing a i r bases and old World War I1 a i r f i el d s.The United States A i r Force had contracted with Douglas f o r the Thor i ns ta l-la t i on pmgracl i n the UK. Actual work of cons truct ing th e bases was done bythe Br i t is h (see Figure 4) from blueprints supplied by the United States.Cer tai n pa rt s, such a s the launch complex, limit ed tolerances t o one-eighthof an inch both i n l i ne and level. Living quarters, both permanent and mo-b il e , were constructed f o r the ~mrlunenas wel l fo r the 1,000 RAF men whomade up th e maintenance and launch crews a t each complex. Douglas providedthe design blueprints and equlpped the launch complexes as th ey were completed.t7ork included in st al la tio n of l i qui d o m e n and fu el storage and tra ns fe rsystems, nlis s i l e s hel ter s, launch control t ra i l e rs , ere cti ng mechanisms, andmaintenance and testing facili t ies. Kiss i les began t o a r r ive i n the UK i nSeptember of 1958. Autumn aLso saw th e a r r i v a l of support equipment accom-panied by a contingent of nearly 400 Douglas personnel as t e chn ical a s s i s t a n t st o the Br i t i sh i n the cons t ruc tion and i n i t i a l opera tion of the bases .In st al la ti on of 60 ope rat ion al Thor emplacements a t fou r widely separatedsquadron locatio ns i n th e UK tras cm ple te d by Douglas, USAF, and th e Br i t i shahead of schedule. Thor tras the f i r s t United State s long-range b a l l i s t i c .missile deployed overseas.


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THOR INSTALLATION IN THE UK WAS COMPLETED BY DOUGLAS,USAF, AND THE BRITISH AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

FIGURE 4


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Canbat Training Launches and the RAFCombat t ra in in g lau nches d uring t he period from January 1959 through June1961, re fl ec te d t he exc ell ent re su lt s obtained from Douglas- and USAF-trainedand supported RAF crews. They scored 1 6 successes o ut of 18 launches. Witheach su cc es sive launch, the amount of Douglas and USAF launch crew supportst ea di ly diminished. Then complete launch o pe ra ti on s were performed exclu-s ivel y by approximately 50 RAP' personnel. Thor program proficiency wasclearly demonstrated by RAP crews. Although t o t a l readiness time al l o ~ ?s o rno more than 15 minutes, RAF crews launched Thors i n l e s s than th at .Here i s another keyhole view of th e r el ia b i l i ty th at Douglas build s in to th ehardware it makes. Some Thor mis si le s had been deployed on op er at io na l padsi n t he UK under t he usual a le r t condi t ions fo r periods from 1 8 t o 24 months.( ~ i g u r e i s an kiAF Thor.) They were return ed t o VAFB for ccanbat traininglaunches. The RAF crew's successful. launching of those "old" mi ss il es i s astrong attestation of the soundness and management of the Thor Weapon Systemdevelopment and production programs.Concurrent ProgramsIndeed, t h e yea r 1959 re ve al s an exc el le nt p r o f i l e of Douglas system manage-ment conducting concurrent programs, na ti on al ly and in te rn at io na ll y. Theseare, broadly speaking, some of the programs:

Manufacturing and assembly a t Santa Monica.St a t ic and capt ive t e s t s a t Sacranlento.Missile f l i g h t te st in g and space vehicle launching a t the AMR.Space vehicle and both Strategic A i r Command and Royal A i r Forcetra i nin g launches a t the FWR.Deployment of f ou r ope ra ti on al Thor squadrons i n th e UK,

Pr ec is el y Guided Re-entry Test VehiclesThe year of 1959 :as al so milestoned by six sp ec ia l mul ti-st age weapon systemlaunches. The f i r s t vehi cle, launched January 23, 1959, malflxnctioned; butthe other five, launched through June ll, 1959, were a l l successflxl. These


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FIGURE 51


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precise ly guided re-entry t e s t vehicles (PGRTV) were lofted by the Thor AbleI1 s p e c i a l weapon sys em . The boo ster s, designa ted ~~1812-4,ere t ac t ica lThor miss iles modified t o increa se ca pa bi li ti es and precis ion guidance. Ofthe f iv e successfu l launches, the one of April 8, 1959, sh am i n Figure 6,resu l ted i n the f i r s t r ecovery of a Thor-boosted noee cone from the sea.Space Age Workhorse .Concurrent with th e s pe ci al weapon system f i r i n g s i n 1959, were Douglas'space effor ts . As a re s u l t of the Thor Weapon System's proven r e l i a b i l i t y ,system hardware and Douglas management capabilities were enlisted immediatelyupon th e en try of t he United Sta te s into the space race. Employment of t h ebasic Thor es a fi rs t- st ag e f o r various space veh icles provided Douglas witha background of succ essf ul par tic ipa tio n i n most of t h i s country's space~ccomplishments; and the part ici pat ion continues. More United Sta te s s a t e l -l i t e s and space probes have employed a Thor Booste r launched by Douglas crewsthan e l l other booster-vehicles combined. By th e end of 1959, the Thor hadcl ee rl y demonstrated i t s ri gh t t o th e t i t l e "Workhorse of th e Space Age."S a t e l l i t e s wit h Recoverable Data CapsulesAfter the Thor Able and Thor Able I launchings, Douglas entered the M i l i t a r yS a t e l l i t e program i n 1959, with a space system ide nt if ie d as t h e Thor Agena A.This program was a ls o under th e Advanced Research Pr o je c ts Agency. Figure 7i s a photograph of such a system. The Thor booster was ~ ~ 1 8 1 2 - 3 . ckheedprovided the second-stage Agena A. From th e f i r s t launch on February 28,1959,th e Thor booster was c ons ist ent ly successful. The purpose of th e programwas t o provide a sci en ti f i c data-gathering e art h s a t e l l i t e system capable of*e jec t ing a recoverable research capsule from the orbi t ing s a t e l l i te . TheGovernment furnished payload which was Thor-boosted August 10,1960, i s t h ef i r s t knam payload t o have i t s data capsule recovered from orbit. The ThorAgena A launchings of payloads concluded with a launching on September 13,1960.The "Paddlewheel" Photographs the Ea rthAgain, th e year of 1959 witnessed s t i l l another space system, the Thor Able 111.


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THOR ABLE II LAUNCHES PGRTV - FIRST THOR-BOOSTEDNOSE CONE RECOVERED FROM THE SEA

FIGURE 6


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The system's booster was the ~ ~1 81 2 -6 ,he puwerful first stage of a four-stage vehicle. Space Technology Laboratories (STL)provided the instrumen-tation p~ckage. The peyload was pleced in an elongated orbit, and theinstrumentation gathered vital spnce environmental date. Figure 8 s aphotograph of the Thor Able I11 space vehicle system. The satellite itl~unched s called "Peddlewheel." It returned electronic pictures of theearth from sp~ceNavigationel and Meteorological Satellites

4.

Remember the Thor Able I1 special weapon system with the precisely guidedre-entry test vehicle? It was drafted into the space race, too. OnSeptember 17,1959, ( ~ i ~ u r e)the Thor Able I1 "space" system attempted toorbit a navigational aid communications satellite. The Thor booster,~ ~ 1 8 1 2 - 2 ,uccessfully lifted off, but the orbit was not achieved becausethe third stage failed to ignite.The crew returned to the launch pad at the AFM'I'C, determined to use another 9Thor Able I1 space system in launching the TIROS 1. T-I-R-0-S stands for:Television and Infra-Red Observation Satellite. It is a meteorological pay-load developed by the Radio Corporation of America for weather observationexperiments sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). On April 1, 1960, TIROS 1 as launched into an orbit that was themost accurate achieved by any United States satellite to that date.Combat Trainina Launches ind Continued ReliabilityIn the meantime, combat training launches of the Thor Weapon System were con-ducted through 1960 and 1961. All launches were successful. The launch crews-brought home the perfect report card (100per cent) for Thor 's launchreliability.

Test of MB-3 Block I1 Engine and GS Nose ConesThree DM-18A missiles were modified and renumbered as Thor missile test ve-hicle DM-1&. These IOC vehicles, allocated to R & D usage, had two object-tives: test and evaluation of the MB-3 Block I1 engine and the new GE nose


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THOR ABLE I l l PREPARES TO LAUNCHFIGURE 8


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THOR ABLE I I (STV), SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED BY THOR; ONSECOND TRY ACHIEVED MOST ACCURATE U.S. ORBIT TO THAT DATE

FIGURE 9


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cone. The launches i n January and February, 1960, were a l l succes sful , andth e obJ ecti ves were met.Interplanetary Space ProbePerhaps th e major event f o r th e year of 1960 was th e launching of a SpaceProbe. Figure 10 share t he Thor Able N, he three-stage space vehi cleaymdm, whioh, wre unad te boorti the aprss probe, 'Ilkre Ilrror boaster war %be~ ~ 1 8 1 2 - 6 A . TL provided the instrumentation package which the Thor Able IVlnunched on March 11, 1960. The payload achieved a heliocentric orbitbetween the Earth and Venus. It transmitted data over a record distance of22,500,000 st at u te miles from th e ear th u n t i l June 26, 1960. That was %helongest d ir ec t ra dio transmission man had ever ~c hi ev ed .Navigational end Active Communications SatellitesThe Thor Ablestar made i t s debut as a space system employing the Thor DM-21Abooster . That space system i s shown i n Fig ure 11. On Apr i l 13, 1960, th i shigher t hr us t engine orbi ted a navigational aid s a t e l l i t e of the AdvancedResesrch Project Agency and the United States Navy.A Thor Ablestar system was resp onsi ble f o r a space milestone on June 22,1960, when it placed two sa te l l i t es i n or bi t s imul taneously, the f i r s t timethis feat had been accomplished. One payload was a navigational aidsa te l l i t e , and the other , a radia t ion detect ion device. That launch i ssometimes called the "Piggy-back .A Thor Ables tar system placed another payload i n o r b it on October 4, 1960.During the f i r s t o r b i t , t h f s communication s a t e l l i t e rela yed a message fromPres iden t Eisenhower t o Secretary of St at e, Chr istia n Rerter, a t the UnitedNetions .The Thor Ableetar can accommodate many types of payloads.


27/92

THOR ABLE IV LAUNCHES PROBE INTO SOLAR ORBITBETWEEN EARTH AND VENUS

FIGURE 10


28/92

THOR ABLESTAR MADE ITS DEBUT BY ORBITING NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITEFIGURE 11


29/92

Satellites and Space ProbesOn April 1, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration enteredin to a cont ract with Douglas t o develop, fab ric ate , t e s t and launch twelvethree-stag e Thor Delta vehicles f o r divers e or bi ta l and space probe missions.The f i r s t s t a g e i s a modified DM-18A, redesignated the DM-19 booster. Asprime contractor, Douglas is also responsible f o r the other two stage s. Thepayloada sra auppl.laa by NABA.On May 13, 1960, t h e f i r s t Thor Del ta space system was su cc es sf ul ly leunched,but th e Echo sa t e l l i te fa i l ed t o achieve o rb i t due t o a second-stage coast-

t t i t ud e co ntro l malfunction a t an 800-mile al t i tu de .On August 12, 1960, th e Thor Del ta space system su cc es sf ul ly launched th eEcho I, a pl a st ic sphere 100 f e e t i n diameter, which ef fe ct iv el y demonstratedth e u t i l i t y of passive communications s a t e l l it e s . Orbit was achieved and th es a te l l i t e was dramat ical ly vi s i b l e t o observers on ear th .Since then, th e Thor Delta space system ( ~ i g u r e 2) has succ essf ully launchedTIRC6 A-2; Explorer X (P-14); TIR05 A-3; Ekplorer XI1 (s-3); TIROS A-4;"OSO," th e Orbit ing So la r Observatory (s-16); end Ar ie l, "UK-1" (s-51), thew or ld 's f i r s t i n t e r n a ti o n a l s a t e l l i t e . The "UK-1" i s the re s ul t of a cooper-s t i v e program between th e United Sta te s and Great Br it ai n. This i s th e f i r s tof a se ri es of programs i n which oth er co untr ies w i l l p a r t i c i pa t e i n t h epeeceful explor ation of space.Im~rovedS ~ a c e vstem f o r Cmsule RecovervThe Thor Agena A space system using the ~ ~ 1 8 1 2 - 3ooster, was succeeded i n1960 by th e Thor Agena B space system. The Thor boos ter was given a higherth ru st engine of ~pprox imately170,000 pounds compared t o 150,000 pounds.The second-stage Agena B kept the same thr us t but was given ler ge r prope llan ttanks and an engine capable of re st ar ti ng i n space. This "on-off-on-again"capabi l i ty i s another "f irs t" i n space. The improved boos ter i s th e DM-21,and the two-stage vehi cle st ar te d i t s ca re er wi th payload on October 26, 1960.The improved Thor bo os te r, DM-21, launched succ es sf ul ly , bu t the Agena B


30/92

THOR DELTA POINTS AN ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY AT SPACEFIGURE 12


31/92

failed to separate and the orbit was not achieved.On November 12, 15160, the Thor Agena B space system successfully launched~ n drbited a payload. The capsule was recovered in the air.Since then, there have been many successful recoveries of capsules. Figure13'is a photogreph of the Thor Agena B system. The program continues. Itspurpose i e to provide e ~eisntifia ab-gathering earth estellfte eyetamc ~ p ~ b l ef ejecting a recoverable research capsule from the orbitingsetellite.Applications Vertical Test Program (AvT)NASA sponsored the Applications Vertical Test Program, commonly referred toas the " ~ i g hot." On June 30, 1961,Douglas was named prime contractor.This responsibility entailed the design, procurement, testing, production,checkout, end launching of the test vehicle. It also included the ejectabledata capsule and the integration of the government-furnished TY system intothe launch vehicle.NASA's Goodard Space Flight Center (GSFC)was responsible for program manage-ment of the vehicle and payload design, checkout, and launch.

NASA's Langley Research Center (IRC designed, fabricated, and ground testedthe payload, LRC was also responsible for the coordination and evaluationof the vertical test results,The mission of the program was to test the A-12 Spacecraft in a space envir-onment to qualify the proper release of the sphere from the canister andpropoer inflation of the 135-foot diameter rigidized aluminum and mylar sphere.The Thor AVT space system consisted of a DM-21booster modified into a DSV-2D(~igure 4). An equipment comp~rtment nd a shroud were designed and fabri-cated. The payload shroud was also furnished by Douglas to protect the pay-load during flight through the earth's atmosphere,


32/92

FIRST THOR AGENA B HAVING A BLOCK I I ENGINE WITHINCREASED THRUST, AND SECOND STAGE IN-FLIGHT RESTART CAPABILITY

FIGURE 13


33/92

THAPO

FOWDC

COS

T

\


34/92

On January 15, 1962, t he Thor AVT space system was launched on a lof ted bal-l i s t i c t r a je ct or y. The spacecraft canister was s u c c e s s W y e je ct ed fram theveh ic le a f t e r the main and ve rn ier engine shutdown.Af ter engine shutdown, th e at ti tu de of the vehic le was controll ed by a coastphase at ti tu de control system so th at th e tele visi on and motion pict uree m e r a s i n t h e equipment a a n p & r ~ e n t ere trained on the spaoeemrt f s r theduration of the test .These cameras, mounted i n th e forward end of t he vehicle, recorded the sep-ara tio n of th e cani ster , opening of the can iste r, ,and in fl at io n of the sphere.For reasons as ye t undetermined, th e 135-foot sphere inflated too rapi6J-yand ripped.The W camera relayed c leq r pic tur es of the separation of both the sphere andthe data capsule. In f ac t , the Thor AVT, o r "Big Shot," accamplished th ef i r s t Ino1.m l i v e TV rel ay and the f i r s t known direct recording fram l i v e TVt ransniss ion a t the record alt it ud e of 1,000 nau tic al miles.The 16-mn motion pi ct ur e camera ~ m s jected from the spacecraft and parachutedi n t o th e sea. The camera tras recovered, and th e fil ms gave exce pti on all ycle ar pict ures of t he separation. The image tras of t he high est qu al it y con-s i s te n t wi th the s ta te o f the art.The recovery of the encapsulated camera established a record of that date,because it reached th e highe st known a l t i t u d e i n an unmanned suborbitalb a l l i s t i c t r a j e c to r y be fo re i t s descent t o th e sea and subsequent recovery.IICISR considered the t e s t e ff or t very successful.Associated fut ure t e s t programs v i l l include an o rb it al launch t o check thelong-term ri g id i ty of th e sphere. Later, th e sphere w i l l be incorporatedin to the Rebound program, where it w i l l be used t o develop qreci se o rbi tin g?lacement techniques .


35/92

Lriproved Space System fgr Sa te l l i t es and ProbesT1ie Thor Delta space system that used the Dl.5-19 booster i s present ly being

1succeedec by the DSV-3A and DSV-3B space system, both cor.mgnly referredt o a s t h e "Improved Thor Deltas."The DSV - 3 , bpro ved Thor Delta, i s a three-stage research vehicle. Thef i re$ stage is a modified I24123 boos te r , sedeei@u%tedDEW-3 , and given ehig he r th ru s t of ayprox imately 170,000 pounds compared t o 150,000 pounds.The DSV-3E, Improved Thor De lt a, i s s i n i l a r t o the DSV-3A. Some of the majordi ff er en ce s ar e in th e Douglas second st ag e. The DSV-3B second st ag e i s 36 'inches longer, uses IRFNA instead of WIFNA as t he oxydizer and us es B e l lTelephone Laboratories' (BTL) 600 Series radio guidance system rather thanth e BTL 300 Se r ie s system used i n t he DSV-3A.Bo'ih I r q r n e d Thor Deltas a re three-stage space vehic les t o be used t o hpar tthe necesscry vc lo ci ty and- con tro l t o various payload packages f o r spaceprobes znS! ear th or b i t al niss ion s.

Dmglas has acquired vast e,wericnce i n the ove r-al l ewin eerin g, tooling,r~nu l"ectu -ins , aboratory and s t a t i c test ing, inspect ion and qua l i ty assur-a c e , f l ig ht test ing, deplolpent an2 qel -a t ional support . The effectLveness02 the use of t h i s e ,qer ience i s re f l ec t ed i n Douglas' sy stm s and integra-'iim rrianazm-ent c ap a bi li ti es , and i s measured qtmnti-LstivePj by th e r e l i -zb i l i t y record of i t s operat ional products. Some of t h i s infomlil.tion i st abula ted i n the appendix to th i s h i s to ry .The r e l i a b i l i ty performance of th e basic Thor booster i s hish and progress-i ve l y i ncreas ing i n bot h m i l i t a ry and space a z ~ l i c a t i ~ n s . espi te the factth at the basic Thor has been subject t o (1) n t e r n a l and e:&ernal confib--a-Lion changes, (2 ) engine changes, (3) the use of d if fe r en t guidance systems,%SIT-3~means: Douglas Space Vehicle-%.


36/92

(4) the mating trith and separation f r m various upper stages, (5) varioustrajectory shaping requirements, and (6) the resulting influences on flightenvironments by these changes--the Thor booster systems have established anover-all reliability record unmatched in the Free Ilorld.


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AI'PENDIX IThor "Fmily Tree"


38/92

B8 R1 E lIYW

A@1 THO,AGENA D

DELTA I M PROVED- - - - - IA A I aI I I 1I II II

II THORI---- A G E N A BQu IP8 I E3Ala

THOR n THOR I IABLE l l STV I

----- I IIA AQAI I II bII II I THOR AGENA AI I I

I IC3

6

B II I Ifj HO RABLE I1 PGRTV I IA

B III --- ----1::::T V I

-l----- P vI I4 3 , I

I II-,----------A

THOR DM-18a

-- -- -- - -THOR "FAMILY TREE"


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PRO POSED VEHI CL ES W I L L BECO M PAT I BL E Wl TH T HE CURR ENT L YAVA I L ABL E SECO ND ST AG ES AS WEL LA S WlTH NEW OR IMPR OVE D SECONDSTAGES WHICH ARE PLANNED.

LEGEND

EXISTING


40/92

APPET?DLX 2Configumtion Sketches and Ident i f ica t ions


41/92

DIAMETER EIODEL: DM-18STATION SYSmYI: Thor WS-31% ( l J . 5 ~ )14.6242 094 VEHICLE SPONSOR: Air Force

The section is modified,effective booster S/N 120. Either ACSP

EIISSLON: Research and Development

or BTL ,guidance systenl is used. The CEA336.0- 96.000 flight controller is used.369.0- Thrust is provided by the Rocket-

*dyne ED-1 (135,000-pound thrust) and * .FB-1Bzsic (150,000-pound thrust pro-pulsion system consisting of one main

151.0-,

LIQUID and two vernier rocket engines, each hav-OXYGENTANK ing a thrusl; of 1,000 pounds. The systemI uses RP-1 fie1 and liquid oxygen.I l l I Directional control is effected by

I74.712

I I I I ~imballing f the main and vernier engine

GUIDANCE ProgramSECTIONiESCRIPTIONThe DX-18 hor booster, t.ras usedfor the first 18 research and developmentvehicles launched as a single-stage Imd,cmprised of the sections designated inFUELTANK the accompanying slretch.I

ENGINE/ I 11 h SECTION/ I \ THRUSTCHAMBER

778.0

'thrust chambers. Fins are mounted on theengine section.

Tc~croMJ;3lid propellant retro-roclcets are used to separate the re-entryvehicle from the booster.PAYLOAD :

DAC ,dmqr ose cone with flighttest boor~l.


42/92

DM-18(continued)COXTRACTORS

Integration - DACAirframe - IXCGuidance - ACSPRe-entry - GEPropulsion - R/NAA

FOR REFERENCE, CITE:MC drat.~ng 60230 (secret).


43/92

SySTEE..1: Thor WS-315A and SJS-ll5ASPOP.TSOR: A i r ForceNISSIOTJ: I n i t i a l O pe ra ti onalCap abil ity ProgramDESCF2rnION:

This i s t he o r i g ina l IOC* ThorB al li st ic Missile, a single-stage boos-t e r i d e n t i ca l t o t h e DM-18 ut usingant i-vor tex f i l t e r s ins tead of vanes andc p i c k - f i l l flanges fo r fue l and l iqu idowgen.

This booster i s powered by theRocketdyne MB-3 Basic and 8113-3 Block Ipropulsion system of 150,000-pound thrustand t m er ni er engines, each having ath ru st of 1,000 pounds. Fin s ar e not in-st al le d . The system use s -W-1 f'uel andliquid oxygen.

The ACSP i n e r t i d guidance systemi s used.PAYLOAD:

Mark I1 re-entry vehic le (GE).COlmRACTOR:

Prime - DACFOR REFERQ,iCE,CITE:

Drawing 5727000- 503 ( ~ o n f

*I n i t i a l Operat ional Capabil i ty .


44/92


45/92

SYSTF2.1: Thor AbleSPOIiSOR: A i r ForceMISSION: Sp ec ia l Weapon t o Tes t FullScale ICE34 Nose Cone a tICBM Speed and Range.DEERIHTION

The ~14L8.U-1(3 launches) i s amodified DM-18rith relocated gyros andthe nose cone and guidance recl~v ed, usedas t h e f i r s t s ta ge of a two-stage vehicle.The first-stage main engine has a l50,OOO-pound th ru st and tTro ve rn ie r en gines eachhave a 'thA-ust of 1,000 pounds. The sys-'im uses RP-1 f i e 1 and liquid o-xygen.

The second stage i s an STL-modifiedV a n w r d ~ . r it h n AGC AJl0-40 propulsionsystem. No guidance i s used.PAYLOAD:

Advanced I CBM Re-entry Test Vehicle(m )CONTRACTORS:

Prime - STLFi rs t S tage - DACSecond Stage - AOC

FOR REEERElJCE, CITE:DAC drawing 5729179 f o r ~1.f-18

modifications.


46/92

MODEL: ~ m 8 1 22SYSTEM: Thor Able I1 (SW)SPONSOR: ARPA (T ransi t ); NASA ( ~ i r o s )MISSION: To Orbit a Navigational

S a t e l l i t e and a Metoergo-l og ic al ( ~ i r o s ) a t e l l i t e .DESCRIPTION:

The DMl812-2 (2 launches) i s modi-f ie d by the addi t ion of f i n s and anin te rs t age t ran s i t io n sec t ion . Theguidance system and nose cone ar e r e-moved. It i s a f i r s t - s t a ge booste r o f athree-s tage Spe cial Test Vehicle (STV)The first-stage main engine has a 150,000-pound thrust and the two vernier engineseach ahve a th r u s t of 1,000 pounds. Theaystem uses RP-1 f u e l and li q u id oxygen.

The second stage is a Douglas-modified AGC Vanguard using an AJl0-42li qu id propulsion system and th e BTLradio guidance system. It uses UDMH o rWIFNA, and develops a 7,575-pound thrust.

The t h i r d s t age uses a sp in-s t ab i l i z ed ABL X-248-A7 s o li d pro poe llan trocket motor. Retro-rockets a re used t oseparate the second and thi rd s tages.PAYWAD:Spe cie1 Tes t Vehicles (STV :

Tiros (RCA)CONTRACTOR:

Prime - DAC f o r SSD/STLFi r s t S t age - DACSecond Stage - AGCThird Stage - ABL


47/92

MODEL: 11141812-2(continued)ASSOCIATE CONTRACTORS:

R/NAA and BTLFOR REFEmNcE, cm:

llAC drawing 5842054 (cod.);Douglas report SM-35705 ( c o ~ )


48/92

MODEL: ~111.812- 3SYSTEM: Thor Agena ASPONSOR: ARPA: IR FORCEEIISSIOTT: Orbit of Data-GatheringEarth Satell i te System un-der the Discoverer ProgramDEBdrnrnTrn1

The DKL812-3 i s the f i r s t stage ofa tm-s tage space vehicle (f i f t ee nlaunches). It i s a DM-18.Adth the nosecone and guidance removed and the instal-la ti on modified. The main engine hasa 150,000-pound t h r u s t and th e two ver -nier engines each have a thrust of 1,000pounds.

The second stage i s a Lockheed 2205Agena A powered by a Bell Aircraf t Hust lerliq uid-p ro pe lla nt engine. The guidancesystem i s i n th e second stage.PAYLOAD:

Earth s a t e l l i te s which e je ct re-coverable data capsules from orbit.CONTRACTORS:

Prime - LMSDFi rs t S tage - DACSecond Stage - UZSD

ASSOCIAm CONTRhCTOR:R/W and BAC

FOR RERZENCE, CITE:DAC draving 3696695; Doughs

Report %I- 38447.


49/92

SYSTD~: Thor Able I 3 (KIEV)SP~ITSOR A i r ForceN ISSION: Special Weapon Test f o r theRecovery of Precisely Guid-ed Nose ConesD E B C m O N :

The ~ ~ ~ 8 1 2 - 46 launches) i s amodified DM-18TEIh interstage transi t ionskirt added and the nose cone and g u i -dance removed. It i s used as the f i r s tstage of a two-stage vehicle. The mainengine has a 150,000-pound thrust andthe -two vernier engines each have athrust of 1,000 pounds.

The second stage i s a modifiedVanguard ~ J i t h AGC AJl0-42 propulsionsystem and BTL guidance.PAYLOAD:

GI3 or AVCO PGWN nose cone. ( b e -cise ly Guided Re-entry Test Vehicle. )C O r n C T O R :

Prime - DACFirst Stage - DACSecond Stage - AGC

FOR REFElWTCE, CIm:DAC drawing 5696816.


50/92

SYSm1: Thor Able I & Thor Able 111SPOITSOR: A i r Force/N..SA ( ~ b l e);

TULSA ( ~ b l eLL)bESSION: For L u n a r and ,Space Probes,and for Orbiting an Ins t ru-mented Satell i teDESCRIPTION:

The ~m812-6 s a DM-18modifiedby ~ y r oelocation and removal of thenose cone and guidance, It i s used asthe f i r s t s tage fo r Able I (3 launches)an d Able I11 (1 aunch). Both are four-stage vehicles; both are STL projects.The f i r s t stage i s parered by a 143-3Basic engine of 150,000-pound thrust,and two ve rn ie r engines, each having athrust of 1,000 pounds.

The Able I uses the AGC AJ10-41 '-prol3ulsion system, with no guidance i nthe second stage; a spin-stabil ized ABLX-248 so li d propellant th ir d stage a n 6a n injec tion roclret i n the fourth stage.

The Able ;I11 has an AGC AJ10-101Apropulsion system with no guidance, aspin- sta bil ize d AJ3L ~ 2 4 8 - ~ 4olid pro-pe ll an t motor; and an ARL IJSS 420 solidprop ella nt motor, with opt ion al gruundcmmnd fi r i ng capabili ty; a s second,t h i r d an2 fourth stage respectively.PAnom :

Military payloads and Explorer,V I ( ~ b l e 11). Both STL instrumentationpackages.


51/92

>IODEL : D I . I L ~ ~ ~ - 6continued)COTETACTOX:

PrW-e - STLFi rs t S t a se - DACSecond Stage - AGCThird Stage - ABLFewkh Stage - Thiokol (Thor able I)

- AEIJ ( ~ h o r ble 111)FOR RlZEE2TCE, CITE:

Q IC drawing 5696314 ( ~ o n f


52/92

MODEL : ~ ~ ~ 8 1 2 -~SYSTEM: Thor Able IVSPONSOR: NASA14ISSION: Sola r Orb it S a te l l i t eDESCRIPlTON :

The ~~181.2-6~e a DM-~& Iodifiedby the addi t ion of f in s and t he r e m o dof the nose cone and guidance. It i s thef i rs t -s tage booster of a three-stagevehicle (one launch). The m i n enginedevelops a 150,000-pmd thr ust , and th etwo vernier engines each have a t h r u s tof 1,000 pounds.

The second and t h i r d s t ~ e sr e -.iden t ica l t o the Able I11 configurationbu t trit h SI'L-supplied ra di o guidance i nthe second stage.?I-iMX)AD :

STL inst rume ntat ionpac lr ee .CO~ITRACTOR:

Prime - Sm;Firs t Stage - DACSec ~n d tage - AGCThird Stage - ABL

ASSOCIATE COPTRACTOR:R/XM

FOR REZERTDTCE, CITE:DAC dravinll; 5696814- 501 ( c o d . )


53/92

MODEL: DM-19fxs'IEM: Thor DeltaSPONSOR: NASAIIISSION: Diverse Orbital and SpaceProbe MissionsDESCRIFTION:

The f i r s t stage of the three-atageDl>!-19 vehicle i s a modified D~I-18~, r i t hth e nose cone, guidance and gyros removed;and t he f in s and in t e rs t age t rans i t io nse ct ion added. The main engine deve lo3sa 150,000-pound thrust, and has tvo ver-n ie r engines, each having a t h ru s t o f1,000 pounds. The system uses RP-1 f'uelan6 l i qu id oxygen.

The second stage i s povered by anAGC AJ10-U.8 li q u id pr op ell an t propu lsionsystem; and includes BTL ra dio guidance,a new fl ig h t co ntr ol l er using bEG gyros,coast phase att it u d e cont ro l system, anda spin table . It uses UD1;IK o r 1KDW.A pro-pe l l an t .

The third stage i s an ABL X-248-A5solid propellant motor tfiich i s spin-stabilized during powered flight.PAYLOAD:

Various ear th sa t e l l i t es and spaceprobes.COTTTXACTORS:

Prime - llACAll Stages - 33AC


54/92

MODEL: DM-19 (~ontnued)ASSOCIATE CONTRACTORS:

R/T;IAA, AGC, BTL and ABLFOR REPERENCE, CITE:

DAC drawing 5843787 (conf. );Doughs Reports SM- 35567, 5h1- 38447,SM-36022 (all cod.).


55/92

MODEL: 134.21SYSTEM: Thor Agena BSPONSOR: A i r Force, NASAMISSION: Orbit of Recoverable Re-search CapsulesDESCmION:

The DM-21 i s a DM-1& with nosefa ir in g removed; th e guidance sec tio n re-placed by a shorter and l ig hte r t ransi-t ion sect ion. The propuls ion systemproduces a thrust of approximately 170,000pounds. The system uses R J - 1 f u e l andliq uid owgen.

Second stage i s a bckheed BAC 8036Agena B, similar t o the Agena A, but tri%hlonger propellant tanks and an in-fli@trestart capabil i ty .PAYLOAD:

(AF) Recoverable research capsuleo r non- recoverable payload; (NASA) -various space s at e l li t e s proposed.CONTRACTORS:

Prime - LMSCFirst Stage - DACSecond Stage - LMSC

ASSOCIATE COWTRACTORS:R/>IAA

Originally a modification of the~14-18A, a netr drawing "packaget' was re-leased to create the DM-21 as a basicbooster for space applications as differ-entiated from the IOC.

-


56/92

HOD= : DM-21 (continued)FOR m C E , ITE:

DAC drawings 5 m 2 , 5864277;D c x g l a s Report SM-38447 (~onf .


57/92

MODEL: DM-21.SYSTEM: Thor Ables t a rSPONSOR: ARPA; Army; Navy; A i r Force;NASAMISSION: Orb it of Various W t hS a t e l l i t e sDESCRIPTION:

The DM-21A i s es se nt ia ll y a DM-21wi th a new adapt er sec tio n, forward ofthe t r ans i t ion sec t ion, t o accep t theAblestar . I t i s used as a f i r s t s t ageof a two-stage vehicle. The main enginedevelop a t h r u s t of 150,000-pounds, andthe two vernier engines each develop ath ru s t of 1,000 pounds . Fins were usedon ly fo r the f i r s t l aunching .

The second stage i s an AGC AJ10-ldcw i th an i n - f l i g h t r e s t a r t c a p a b i l i t y . TheAerospace-AGC guidance system i s used.PAYLOAD:

Naviga tiona l a id s a t e l l i t e andCommunications s a t e l l i t e(ARPA and ~ a v y )composite--(~avy)A N N A - - ( A M ~ ~ , Navy, NASA, A i r ~ o r c e )

CONTRACTORS:Te ch nica l Management - AF:SSDSystem Engin eering - Aerospace

CorporationF i r s t S t a g e - DACSecond Stage - AGC

ASSOCIATE CONTRACTOR: R/NAAFOR REFERENCE, CITE:

DAC drawing 5844451; Douglas ReportSM-38447.


58/92

,SYS'JmI: Thor AVT, cclmmonly cal led"Big Shot" (formerly SuperShotput)SPONSOR: IIASAICSSIOfiT: Test of Communications Ba l -loon Inflation in Stiborbi-taf Ballistic Flight Bath.DESCRIPTION:

The DSV-2D i s a modified DM-21 trithan equ ipen t ccpnpartment, forward of thetra ns iti on section, which supports th epayload. It i s a single-stage vehicle.The main engine develops a 167,000-poundth rus t, and the t ~ m ern ier s, each developa thrust of 1,000 pounds.

The equipent ccunpartment containsmotion picture and tel ev is ion cameras t orecord balloon in fla ti on . The IIA-92fairing shrouds the payload. No guidancei s used. The coast phase attitude controlsystems i s enrployed during both TV andmotion picture camera operation time.PAYLOAD:

A-12 Spacecraft, including an EchoI1 cani-ster, i n f la t ab le passiv e communi-cations balloon (~runtmn).CONTRACTORS:

Prime - DACFOR m C E , CTTE:

MC dra ~r in g 884020.


59/92

MODEL: DSV-3SYSTESI: Thor DeltaSPONSOR: NPSA:GSFC

MISSION: Diverse O rb i ta l and SpaceProbe MissionsDESCRIPTION:

The f i rs t stage of a three-stagevehicle i s a modified DM-21 booster withth e prop ella nt dr ip sh ie ld removed, Thet rans i t ion sec t ion s t ruc tu re i s modifiedt o accommodate th e int ers tag e t ra ns it io nstr uct ure attachment. A pressure dia-phragm i s added t o p ro tec t the f i r s t -stage electrical components from theef fe ct s of t he second-stage engine ex-haust. The tunnel in st al la ti on ismodified t o accommodate th e r el oc at io nof t he ra te gyros. The MB-3 Block I1engine has a thrust of 170,000 pounds .The two vernier engines each have athrust of 1,000 pounds. The system usesR J - 1 f u e l and li qu id oxygen.

The second stage i s powered by af f i ~ J~O-118iqu id propellant propulsionsystem, has a coast phase at ti tu d e con-t r o l system and i s con tro l led in f l ig h t bya BTL 300 Series radio guidance system.The system used UDMH and WIFNA propel lantand develops a t h r u s t of 7,575 pounds.

The th ir d stage i s powered by anAllegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) ~ 4 8 -A5DM s o l id pro pel lan t motor vhi ch i s spin-sta bil ize d during powered f l i g h t . Thismotor produces 2800 pounds of thrust.


60/92

I.IODEL(: Dm-3 (continued)PAYLOAD:

Various earth satellites and spaceprobes.CO?TRACTOR:

Prime - IlAcAll Stages - DAC

FOR REFEREPCE, CITE:IlAC dra~sring5843727, and 1A20706;

DS-2324.


61/92

MODEL: DSV-3BSYSTEM: Thor DeltaSPONSOR: NASA: GSFCMISS O N : Diverse Orbital and SpaceProbe Miss ionsDESCRIPTION:

The f i r s t stage of a three-stagevehicle i s a DSV-2A (DM-21) boo ster withthe propellant d rip sh ie ld removed. Thet rans i t ion sec t ion s t ruc ture i s modifiedt o accommodate the in te rs ta ge ,tr an si t io nstr uc tur e attachment. A pressure dia-phragm i s added to pro tec t the f i r s t -stage electrical components from theef fec t s of the second-stage engine ex-haust . The tunnel in st al la t io n i s modi-f i e d to accommodate th e rel oc at io n of th er a t e gyros. The system uses R J - 1 fuel a.ndliquid oxygen. The MB-3 Block I1 enginehas a th ru s t of l70,OOO pounds . The twovernier engines each have a th rus t of1,000 pounds .

The second stage i s powered by aAGC AJ10-118D l iq u id prop ell an t pr opu lsio nsystem, has a coast phase at ti tu d e con-t r o l system, and i s cont ro l l ed inf l igh tby a BTL 600 series radio guidance system.The s t w e has been lengthened 36 inchesover the DSV-3.A in order t o increase thetank pro pell ant capac ity. The systemuses UDMH and IRF'NA propellant and dev-elops a thrust of 7,575 pounds.


62/92

MODEL: Dm-3B (continued)DESCflIPTION: (continued)

The third sta ge may be powered byeit her of two Allegany B a l li s t ic s Labora-tory (ABL) so l id propellant motors, bothof which are spin stabilized. One choicei s the ~248-ADM hich produces 2800 poundethrust. The other i s th e X258 with athrust of 5080 pounds.PAYLOAD:

Various earth satellites and spaceprobes.CONTRACTORS:

Prime - DACA l l stages - DAC

FOR REFERENCE, CITE:DAC Drawing ~121340 nd 14920706

DS-2325.


63/92

MODEL: DSV-2ASYSTEM: Thor Agena DSPONSOR: AIR FORCEMISS ON: Ear th Orbi t ingS a t e l l i t e sBmCRmIoN:

The DSV-2A i s e s s e n t i a l l yt h e same ve hi cl e as th e DM-21 wi th at r a ns i t i on sec t ion compatible with theAgena D. The propulsion systemcon sist i ng of an MB-3 Block I1 mainengine which produces a s ta bi l i ze d se al e v e l thr u s t of 170,000 pounds and two1,000 pounds thrust vernier enginesope rates on li q ui d oxygen and R J - 1 .

The second stage i s a LockheedModel 30205 Agena D powered by a 16,000pound vacuum thrust Bell 8096 liquidpro pel lan t engine which burns UDMH andIRFNA and has an in fl i g h t r e s t a r tc a p a b i l i t y . BTL r ad io / ine r t i a l gu idancei f employed i s located i n the seconds tage .PAYLOAD:

A.F. and NASA s a t e l l i t e sCOrnCTOR:

Prime - M CF i r s t S ta ge - DACSecond Stage - LMSC

ASSOCIATE CONTRACTORS:R/NAABTL

FOR REFERENCE, CITE:DAC drawing 5864277;DAC Spec i f i ca t ion DS -2344


64/92

MODEL: DSV -6SYSTEM: Thor AblestarSPONSOR: NAVY ATTD AIR FORCEMISS ION: Orbit VariousE ar th S a t e l l i t e sD ~ C R I r n I O N :

The DSV-6 i s e s s e n t i a l l y a DM-21with a modif ied t ransi t ion sect ion andan adapter sect io n designed t oaccommodate the Ablestar second stage.The Rocketdyne 133 Blk I1 main enginedevelops a s t a b i l i z e d s e a l e ve l t h r u s tof 170,000 pounds and each of t h e tv ove rn ie r engines produce 1000 poUldsth ru st . Fins may be in st al le d on th ee n ~ i n e e c t io n s t r u c t u r e i f t h e r nissionp r o f i l e so r equ i r e s .

The second stage Ablestar i spowered by a l iq u i d pr op el la nt ffiCAJ10-104 using DRNA and UDMH . I tproduces a vacuum t h r u s t of 7900 poundsand has an in f l ig h t r e s t a r t capa b i l i ty .An Aerospace - AGC guidance system i semployed.PAYLOAD

Navigat ion Sa te l l i t e sCONTRACTORS:

Technical Management - AF: SSDSystem Engineering - AerospaceCorporationF i r s t S t ag e - DACSecond Stage - AGC


65/92

ASSOCIATE CONTRACTOR:R/NAA

FOR REFEEENCE, CLTE:DAC drawing 1A 39735;DAC specification DS 2342 ( c )


66/92

SYSTEM: Thor Agena DSPONSOR: AIR FORCEMISSION: Earth OrbitingS a t e l l i t e sDESGRXFTION:

The DSV-2C i s e s s e n t i a l l y aDSV-2A wi th th ree ( 3 ) Thiokol B4-33-52so li d pro pel lan t roc ket motors mountedaround the a f t end of th e airframe.

The sol id motors a re jet iso nedaf te r burn out a t a t ime determined byrange safety considerations.

Minor changes i n th e engine se ct io ns t r uc tu r e and i n t he c on t r o l c i r c u i t r yhave been made t o accomodate th e s o l i dmotors.

See des c ri p t io n of DSV-2A f o rfurther informationFOR REFERENCE, CITE:

DAC drawings LA 48435 andLA 36317; DAC s pe ci fi ca ti on ~ ~ - 2 3 4 5 ( c

SOL


67/92

n p-@bd From P C i 3 3 N N E L L1 FROM: Fl or id a Test Cente r Ex te rna l R e la t io ns , 269-4100 Ex t 7313 com;rP.omIrsrrorv

D O U G LA S N E W S BUREAU Santa Monlca, California 80408Februasy 1969 ("3) 389-9311, extension 2666 ,--- , - --- - - - - .- . - . - - - - .I SEQUENCE OF EVENTS (C on t' dl

EVENTS-+172.0 Yaw Rate 1 O ffT0S-cSEQUENCE OF EVENTSELTA 67 . . I - U - 5 6 Cw

UrJST . 0.0 Programer Star t (Stage I ) *17S.O , ~ r t e h ~ r r on, +177.0 is ta r t s tage 11 Guidancn

The 10s-G miss ion w i l l be the 67th f l i gh t i n the Del ta propram. Pr i - r2.0m a ry m i ss i o n o b j e c t i ve i s t o p l a ce t h e sp a cec r a ft i n t h e d e s i r e d c i r cu - t 4. Ol a r e a r t h o r b i t. +9.6710s-A through TOS-F spa cecr aft wr e launched frcm the Western TestRange ut i l i z in g var ious Del t r l aunch vehic le conf igurat ions. TOS-G * +lO.O

I, w i l l bc launched fran the Eastern Test Range wi th a DSV-3E th ru st +45.0augncnted Delta (TAD) conf igurat ion. * t50.0

Roll Rate 1 On Pi tch Rate 1 Of fPi tch Rate 1 OnYaw R ate 1 On ~ V C S h an n el 2 I n i t i a t ePitch Rate 1 OffYaw Ra te 1 OffRol l Rate 1 Off

A n Oxid Probe and TPS,(Sequence 4):End Stage I 1 Guidance

P i t c h Rate 2 On 622.0Ar m Sol id Motor Separat ion

Cm an d SECOSwl tch to Coast Cont ro l, H yd r a u l ic s O f fSol d no tor Separat ion +570.0Rol l Control Galn Change Tu rn Off BTL/WECO (Sequ encPi t ch Rate 2 Of f ,Coast Phase Pit ch R ate 1 OThe TOS-6 v ehi cle w i l l be launched fra n Canplex 17, Pad B, on a launch r64.67

azimuth o f 115 degrees. m d w l l l be r o l l e d t o a f l i g h t a zi mu th o f 1 08 +65.0degrees. F i r s t s tage pwere d f l i g ht t ime i s appror lmate ly 150 seconds ' +80.0;with burnout o f the three so l id boosters occur ing 39 seconds af te rl l f t o f f . S econ d s t a ge p o we re d f l i g h t d u r a t i o n i s a p p r ox i m at e ly 3 6 8 Le c- +89.67o nd s. f o l l a d b y a 56 1 se co nd coa s t ph ase. A t h i r d s ta g e so l i d m o t orburn t ime of approx imate ly 30.8 seconds w i l l i n je ct the spacecraf t +90.0- In to the fol1owit ;g sun-synchronous or bi t :

coast Phase p i t ch Rate 1 oPlt ch Rate 3 On!Coast Phase Yaw Rate 1 OnRol l Rate 2 OnYaw Ra te 2 OnStar t Stase I Guidmce 'Coa st Phase Yaw Rate 1 Off

P i t ch Rate 3 Of fYaw Ra te 2 OffRol l Rate 2 OffSpin Rockets, (Sequence 5)

I I g n l t i o n W i r e C u t t e r s!Stape 111 Separat ion BoltsF i r e R e t ro sI (Sequence 6)Res me Yaw Rate 2Resume Roll Rate 2 !' *1070.0Pitch and Yaw Control Gain Change 'Enable Pltch and Yaw Vern ier Co ntrol !Yaw Ra te 2 Off i +1083.0Rol l Rate 2 Off I! +1113.8 i S ta ge I 1 1 I g n i t i o n( s t a ge 1 11 B u r m t

I Payload Separat ionI R el ea se Yo k i g h tI__ _ _ .

Apogee 790 n.mi. (Nominal) ; - .. * ... +100.0IPerigee 790 n.mi. (Naninnl) +105.0I n c l i n a t i o n 10 1.80 e N i n a 1 / --(78.20 deg retrograde] I +124.0 , Uncage Stage I 1 Rol l Gyro i +1?28.0Enable Stage 11 Ig ni t i on and Pymtech ni< +)230.0I Power I 7 -I MECO Enable

I E~~'BTLIWECO Guidance- *OSY-3E Launch Veh ic le- - +139.0

+l46.01+150.71II

3RD STAGE tI ,154.0

! MECOI Sta r t Stage 11 Programer/ Blow Blpst Bands1 Stage 11 Separat ion, Engine Sta r tSequence 1) . ,

+158.02ND STAGE GUIDANCE SECTION +159.0'

Je t t i so n F a i r i n g ( S q u e n ce 2.)Yaw Ra te 1 On -

i_ --.- -- .-PROPULSION SECTIONkd ZND S TA GE AD AP TE R S E C T i i

CHARACTERISTICLength- ft.Olameter - ft..Engine Typeh n u f a c t u % rDesignat ionNwnber of EnginesSpecif ic lmpulseThrust - 'Pounds/EngimThrust Durat ion - Sac.P m p e l l m t o r F u e lOxid izer6asesa s P n s s u w - PSI6

OSV-3E VEHICLE DESCRIPTIONSOLID STAGE IBOOSTERS Q/N 202251

19.7 59.6.2.6 8S o l i d L i q u i dThiokol RocketdyneTX-354-5 M83-1113 1 M.E 2 V.E.237.6 252.452,150 170;00039 150TP-HI036 &-.- LOX--. ="2

3OOO

TRANSITION SECTION . ' STAGE I 1 STAGE I1 1jS/N 202251 JS/H 20240L

F U E L T A N K 1I Liq u id So1 d

CENTER BODY SECTION j Ae mj et U.T.C.

273 J .7.?50384 .U r nIRFNA ,Hc. GN24350. 4000


68/92

3Thor Launch Record, Weapon and Space Systems


69/92

THORLAUNCH RECORD

WEAPON SYSTEMDM-18 R&DDM-18A IOCDM-18C R&D

TOTAL DEVELOPMENT

DM-I$A COMBAT TRAINING LAUNCHES CTL

TOTAL WEAPON SYSTEM

SPACEBALLISTIC

DM-1812-1 AB LE RT VDM-1812.4 A B LE PGR TVDSV-2D AVTDSV-2E SPECIAL BAL LIS TIC

TOTAL SPACE BALLISTIC

ORBITAL AND PROBEDM-1812-6A ABLE I & ABLE IIDM-1812-6 AB LE IVDM-1812-2 ABLEIIDM-21A AB LE STARDM-1812-3DM-21 I AGENADSV-2CDM- 19DSV-3A 1 D E L T ADSV-3B

TO TAL OR BIT AL AND PROBE

TOTAL SPACE

TOTAL

GRAND TOTAL THOR SYSTEMS 1 196

SUCCESS MALFUNCTION127

!%SUCCESS

INCL UDE S 14 PA RT IA L SUCCESSES OF DM-18 AND DM-18A


70/92

SmUElPCE WEAPON OR SPACE RFSULTS MODEL VEHICLE PROGRAM OR DATE LOCATIONNUMBER SYSTEM DESIGlOATION SERIAL # PAYWAD - OF LAUNCHWS-315AWS-315AWS -315AWS-315AWS -315AUS-315AWS -315AWS-315AWS-315AWS -315AWS-315AWS -315AWS -315AThor AbleWS -315AWS-315AThor AbleWS-315AThor AbleWS-315AWS-315AThor Able IThor Able IWS-315AThor Able IWS-315AWS-315AWS-315AWS-315AWS-315AThor Able 11US-315A

MPsMPaSMPS8F'sSPSPSMMSSSPSSFsSMSMSSF'SSsF3MPS

DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM-18DM- 8DM-18DM-1812-1DM-18DM-18DM-1812-1DM-18DM-1812-1DM-18DM-18DM-1812-6ADM-181.2-6~DM-18~DM-1812 6ADM-18~DM-18ADM- 8.ADM- 8ADM-18ADM-1812-4m-18~

RimRd9RrnR&DR&DR&DR&DRdLbR&DR&DR&DR&DR&DM v . mR&DR89m ,mR89Adv. RlVR&DR&D

rocIOCIOCCTLIOCFGRTVIOC

AMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAmAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMFtPMRAMRAMRAMR

S - Success PS-Partial Success M-Malfunction O-Orblt R-Recovery


71/92

SEQUENCE WEAPON OR SP AC E RESULTS MODEL VEZICLE PROGRAM OR DATE IXXI1ATIOMNUMBER S Y S m D ESIG NA TIO N S E RI A L # PAYIDAD - OF LALACEThor A b l e I1 SThor A g e n a A S-0Thor A b l e I1 SWS -3 15 A SWS-315A SThor A b l e I1 S R%'bar &an& A 9-0WS-315A S( W s - 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~ - 1 5 5 ~WS-315A S( W s - 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~ - 1 1 5 ~Thor A b l e I1 S-R(WS 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~115A SThor A g e n a A SThor A b l e I1 S(WS - 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~ - 1 1 5 A( w s - ~ ~ ' ~ A ) w s - U ~ A SThor A g e n a A S(WS 3 1 5 ~ ) W ~ - 1 1 5 ~S(ws 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~ - 1 1 5 ~(WS 3 1 5 A ) W s - 1 1 5 ~ S(WS 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~U 5 A S( ~ ~ - 3 1 5 ~ ) W s - 1 1 5 ~Thor A b l e I11 S-0Thor A g e n a A S-0( W S - 3 1 5 A ) W ~ - 1 1 5 ~ S(WS 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~1 1 5 ~ PSThor A g e n a A S-0( ~ - 3 1 5 A ) W S - l l 5 ~ S( w s - ~ ~ ~ A ) ~ s - u ~ A .( ~ ~ - 3 1 5 A ) W ~ - 1 1 5 AThor A b l e I1 S

DM-1812-4DM-18123DM-1812-4DM -18 ADM-18ADM-1812-4D~-18=3DM-18ADM-18ADM- 1 8 ADM- 1 8 AD M - 1 8 a - 4DM-18ADM-1812-3DM-181.24DM-18ADM-18ADM-1812-3DM-18ADM-18~DM-18ADM-18ADM-18ADM-18126DM-1812 -3DM-18ADM-18ADM-1812-3DM- 1 8 ADM- 1 8 ADM-18ADM-181.22

FG RT V

IO CIO CE r nCTLIO CIO CrocFG RTVIOC

PC RT VCTLIO C

IOCIOCIOCCTLIOC

IOCerr,

IOCI O Cm

AMRPMRAMR

AMRAMRAMRrnPMRAMRAMRAMRAMRAMRPMRAMRPMRAMRPMRAMRAMRAMRPMRAMRAMRPMRAMRF'MRPMRAMRAMRPMRAMR

S-Succees PS-Parti a1 Success M - M a l f u n c tion 0 - O r b i t R - R e c o v e ry


72/92

SEQUENCENUMBER

656667686970

WEAPON OR SPACE RESULTSSYSTEM( w S - ~ ~ ~ A ) W Sl l 5 A S

Thor Agena( ~ ~ - 3 1 5 ~ ) W ~ - 1 1 5 ~(WS 3 1 5 ~ ) ~ ~1 1 5AThor Agena AWS-115Aws 1 1 5 ~US-115AWS-115ASpec. Ta t. Veh. SWS -115A SThor Agena A MSpec Tst . Veh SSpec Ta t. Veh SThor Agena A MWS-115A SThor Able IV S-0Thor Able I1 S-0Thor Able S t a r S -0Thor Agena A S-0Thor Delt a SThor Able S t a r S -0WS - 1 1 ' jA SThor Agena A SThor Agnea A S-0-RThor Del ta S-0

MODELDESIGNATIONDM-18A

VEHICLF:SERIAL _# PROGRAM ORPAYLOADIOCIOCCTLIOCCTLIOC

CTLIOC

IOCCTLCTLIOCIOCCTL

IOCIOC

CTL

Tiros

Echo

CTL

Echo I

S-Success PS -P ar ti al Success M-Malfunction O-Oribt R-Recovery

DATE LOCATION- OF LAUIVCH9-22-59 AMR10-6-59 AMR

10-21-59 PMR10-28-59 AMR11-3-59 AMR11-7-59 PMR11-12-59 PMR11-19-59 AMR11-20-59 PMR12-1-59 AM.12-1-5912-14-59 FMR12-17-59 AMR1-14-60 AMR1-21-60 PMR2-4-60 PMR2 -9-60 AMR2-19-60 AMR2-19-60 PMR3 -2 -60 PMR3-11-60 AMR4-1-60 AMR4-13-60 AMR4-17-60 FMR -5-13-60 AMR6-22-60 AMR6-22-60 PMR6-29-60 PMR8-10-60 PMR8-12-60 AMR


73/92

SEGUENCE WEAPON OR SPACE RESULTS MODEL VEAICLE PROGRAM OR DATE ILEATIONNUMBER SYSTEM DESIGNATION SERIAL # PAYLOAD - OF LAUNCH

Thor Agena AThor Able St a rThor Agena AThor Able Starws - 1 1 5 ~Thor Agena BThor Agena BThor DeltaThor Able StarThor Agena BWS-115AThor Agena BThor Agena BThor Agena BThor Able StarThor Deltaws- 1 1 5 ~Thor Agena BThor Agena BThor Agena BThor Agena BWS -115AThor Able StarThor Agena BThor Delta,Thor Agena BThor Agena BThor DeltaThor Agene BWS- l 5 AThor Agena BThor Agena B

S -0-RMS-0-RDM-21ASSS-0-R5-0MS-0-RSs-0S-0S-0S-0s-0sSS -0ss-0-I?ss 0S-O-Rs 0MSS-0S-0-RSS-0-Rs 0

237 8-18-60262 8-18-60246 9-13-60293 10-4 -60186 CTL 10-11-60253 10-26-60297 11-12-60249 Tiros A- 2 11-23-60283 11-30-60296 12-7-60267 CTL 12-13-60258 12 -30-60298 2-17-61261 2-18-61313 2-21-61295 Explorer X(P-14) 3-25-61243 CTL 3-29-61300 3-30-61307 4-8-61302 6-8-61303 6-16-61276 CTL 6-20-61315 6-28-61308 7-7-61286 Tiroe A-3 7-12-61322 7-21-61309 8-4-61312 Explorer XII(S-3)8-15-61323 8-30-61165 CTL 9-6-61310 9-12-61324 9-17-61

PMRAMRF'MR-AMRPMRmFMRAMRAMRFMRPMRFMFtPMRPMRAMRAMRPMRPMRPMRFMRPMRPMRAMRAMRAMRPMRPMRAMRPMRPMRFURPMR


74/92

SEQUENCE WEAPON OR SPACE RESULTS MODELNUMBER SYSTFN DESIGNATXON

12 9 Thor Agena B S-0-R DM-2113 0 Thor Agena B S-0 DM-2113 1 Thor Agena B S-O mi-21132 Thor Agena B S-0-R DM-21133 Thor Able S ta r S-0 , DM-21A134 WS 115A S DM-18A

' 135 Thor Agena B S-0-R DM-21Thor Agena BThor AVTThor Able StarThor DeltaThor Agena BThor Agena BThor DeltaWS-115AThor Agena BThor DeltaThor Agena BThor Bal l is t icThor Able StarThor Agena BThor Agena BThor Agena BThor Bal l is t icThor Agena BWS -U5AThor DeltaThor Bal l is t icThor Agena BThor Agena DThor Bal l i s t i cThor Delta

YEBICLE PROGRAM OR DATE ICEATIONSERIAL& PAYUlAD - OF LAUncH328 10-13-61 PMR329 10-23-61 FMR330 11-5-61 PMR326 11-15-61 PMR305 XL-15-61 AMR214 CTL 12-5-61 PMR325 12-12-61 m327 1-13-62 PMt337 B& Shot, 1 1-15-62 AMR311 1-24-62 AMR317 Tlroe A-4 2-8-62 AMR332 2-21-62 PMR241 2-27-62 PMR301 OSO(S-16) ' .3-7-62 AMR229 CTL 3-19-62 PMR33 1 4-18-62 PMR320 Ariel (@C- 1)(~- 51) -26-62 AMR333 4-28-62 PMR177 Spec.Ba ll is t i c 5 -2 -62 AMR314 5-10-62 AMR334 5-15-62 PMR336 5-29-62 PMR335 6-1-62 PMR199 6-4-62 PMR343 6-18-62 PMR269 CTL 6-18-62 PMR321 Tir os A-5 6-19-62 AMR193 6-20-62 FWR339 6-22-62 PMR340 6-27-62 PMR195 7-8-62 PMR316 mx-1 7-10-62 AMRO-Orbit R-Recovery


75/92

WEAPON OR SPACESYSTmThor AVTThor Agena BThor B a l l i e t i cThor Agena BThor Agena DThor Agena DThor Agena BThor Agene 3Thor DeltaThor Agena BThor Agena DThor DeltaThor Agena BThor B a l l i s t i cThor B a l l i s t i cThor Agena DThor DeltaThor Able StarThor B a l l i s t i cThor Agena BThor Agena BThor Agena DThor Agena DThor DeltaThor Agena D

186 Thor Agena D187 Thor Agena D188 Thor Delta189 Thor Agena D19 0 Thor Agena D191 Thor Agena D192 Thor Delta19 3 Thor Agena D194 Thor Delta195 Thor Agena D1% Thor Agena D

RESULTS MODEL VEHICLE PROCRAM ORDFsIGNATIaW SERIAL # P m A DDSV-2DDM-21Dm-2EDM-21DM-21.DM-21DM-21DM-21DM-19DM-21DM-21Dsv-y\DM-21DSV-2EDSV-2EIIM-21DEW-3ADM-2lADEW-2EDM-21DM-21DM-21DM-21DSV-3BDM-21DM-21DM-21Dm -3BDSV-2CDSV-2CDM-21Dsv-3BDl-21DSV-3BDsv-2CDSV-2C

Big Shot 2

Relay 1

Explorer 17

!Pelstar

DATE IDCATION- OF LAUNCH7-18-62 AMR7-22 -62 PMR7-2 5-62 PMR7-27-62 PMR8-1-62 R4R8-28-62 PMR9-1-62 PMRg-27-62 m9-18-62 AMR9-28-62 PMR9-29-62 PMR10-2-62 AMR10-8-62 PMR10-15-62 PMR10-26-62 PMR10-26-62 PMR10-27-62 AMR1.0-31-62 AMR11-1-62 PMR11-5 -62 PMR11-24-62 PMR12 4 -62 PMR12-12-62 PM R12-13-62 AKR12-14-62 PMR1-7-63 PMR1-16-63 PMR2 -14-63 AMR2-28-63 PMR3-18-63 m4-1-63 PMR4-2-63 AMR4-26-63 PM R5-7-63 AMR5-18-63 PMR6-12-63 PMR


76/92

APPENDIX!Ikor-;Boosted Space Satellites and Probes


77/92


78/92

TMOR-BOOS

S

S

TANDPOBE

IO

C

VA

B

GOC

D

PO

RAOSU

WG

B

THA1

PG

PG

THA

A

THA

A

THA

A

THA

A

THA

A

SOON

A INOT

TOD

(FANLG

E

MAO

CEOO


79/92


80/92

THB

S

S

TANDPWO

S

D

PO

OTNSOA

CMUCO

3CRA

B

TH

DA

THDA

THDA

THDA

THDA

C

R

N

A INOT

TOD


81/92

THQR-BOOSTD

SCEST

T

ANDPOBE


82/92


83/92

Thor-Boosted Payload, Orbit, and Trajectory Data


84/92

THOR-BOOSTED PAY L O A D , O R B I T ,A N D T R A J E C T O R Y D A T A

'YCLINATION T O ECLIPTIC PERIHELION L APHELION IN A S T R O N O M I C A L UNITS

5 9 B E T A59 OAMMA5 9 D E L T A 25 9 E P S I L O N 2

5 9 Z E T A5 9 K A P P A5 9 L A M B D A6 0 A L P H ATlROS I6 0 B E T A 260 GAMMA 26 0 D E L T A6 0 E T A 1

6 0 E T A 26 0 T H E T AE C H O l6 0 I O T A 16 0 K A P P A60 MU6 0 N U 160 OMICRONTIROS II6 0 P i 160 SIGMA60 T A U

61 E P S I LON 16 1 Z E T A

6 1 E T A

21:49115 5 DAY S 95.9 86 3-245 5 X2-8-59 3-5-59211184-13-5914123

MIN. '0587 U S A F A P13 DA Y S4-26-JQ

P R I O R T O

52 50 9 0 ~ 84 6 ~ , 9

T -1300

8 -7 -5 9 J U L . 6 119100108 54 8 DA Y S 7 8 ~ . 9 4

840.0

810.64

30.35,

4 8 9 4 1

5128

66O.77

6 6 9 7 7820.85

47O.22

790.65

8oq928q3

810.86

48O.34800.82

820.80

8091800.74

2som38

1 9 2 F T .

8-13-59191241418 -1 9 -5920:28:4111-7-59

90.5M I N ,766 4

2-11-616 2 D A Y S10-20-591 9 D A Y S11 26 -59

MIN.109.1MIN.95.3MIN.

94.55M I N .103.66M I N .311.64

"'16MIN.95.8492.31MIN.101.60M!N.101 64MIN.94.13MIN.MIN.94.54MIN.94.23MIN.106.85MIN.96.45MIN.;93.81MIN.92.98MIN.

i::.'97.86MIN.96.22MIN.

123111

135

I19125:24 1104 D AY S11-20 -593 -8 -60

22,85011311891 204669 046 010290 3

.8061*.9951

20 7409--953 3 033 95 5 93325 7 01 4 03 79912974 3510939650867 010253 5-330403--12436911 434 117341 513457894

53 9

13:00:073-11-6011140:094 -1 -60

7610

S O L A RO R B I T-

. I 3 0 6

'0464'0498'lo''

.,040.0045

,0269

'03230194

,0308'O3I9,01080452.0405

-- - -.0096-----S O ~ ~ ~-0311.0324-0589

'0592

5-245T -1610

1 2 1 0 2 3 5 I --13-60

T-142S-195s-30T -17005-300T -17005-300T -17005-43.0T-94.81 -270

3-2655-300T -1700s-223

S-300T -1700T-137.45-3001 - 1 7 0 0-5-300T -5055- 300T-21001 -280-- - -5-300T-2100-T-21005.300T-21501 -21005-304T-2100

20120:374-15-6005:54:086-22-6005:541086-22-6020137:548-10-60091391438-12-6019:58:078-18-6022:131399-13-6017:50:0710-4-6020:4213311- 12-6011113:0311-23-6020:2112-7-6020:36.5112-20-6020:25:021-1.'-6122.582- 18-61

03135:042-22-6 1

27 X 33 I NC A P S U L E26 X

1 1 D A Y S4-26-60-

-96 DA Y S11-14-60-2 9 D A Y S9-16-6035DAYS10-18-60-47 DAYS12-24-60-116 DAYS4-2-6 134 DAYS1-23-60-

426 DAYS4-20-6236 DAYS3-30-6 1

USAF BA O E N A2 9 I N

2 7 X 3 3 I NC A P S U L E2 7 X 3 3 I NC A P S U L E2 7 X 3 3 I NC A P S U L E27 X 33 INC A P S U L E2 6 I N .S P H E R E

42 X1 9 I N .

36 I N .S P H E R E

2 7 X 3 3 I NC A P S U L E

3 6 I N .S P H E R E2 0 I N .S P H E R E

2 7 X 33 INC A P S U L E1 00 F T .S P H E R E

2 7 X 33 INC A P S U L F-51 IN.SPHERE--

4. --

USAF

USAF

USAF

USAF

lJSAFWEA. BUR

U S N A V YU S A FlJSAF

U S N A V YU S A FU S N A V YU S A FUSAF

N A S AufAFUSAF

US NA V YUSAFUSAFN A S A.-US A F

T H O RA G E N A

A G E N AA G E N AT H O RA G E N AA B L ET H O RA B L E~~~~T A R

A G E N AT H O RA B L ES T A R

: ! y b M RS T A RA G E N AD E L T AT H O RA G E N AAL;yzSTARTHORA G E N AD E L T ATHORA G E N A-

5 X25 FT.

27 X 331NC A P S U L E5 X25 FT.-

PPPPA

AA

PA

P

-A GE NA

AGENAA~~~~TAR

---a-U S A F

IJSAF

US A FU S N A V YUS A F


85/92

T H O R -B O O S TE D P A Y L O A D , O R B I T ,A N D T R A J E C T O R Y D A T A

E X P LORE R X I 16 1 U P S I LO N6 1 P SI

61 OM EGA 1

6 1 A - KA P P A 1

33a'0482~,14

81q58

031338-16-6120:00:068.30-6 1191591239-12-61

-I l D A Y S9-10-6190 DAYS12-1 1-61

26.4HOURS91.51MIN.92.41MIN.

15641,6008228 219

29 8

,8525.0292

'0025I

T-831-305-2100

7-300S-2100

26 X5H I N.2 7 X 3 3 1 NCA P S ULE27 X33lNCA P S ULE

NASAU S A FU s A F

ATHORAGENAAGENA

AMRPMR

PM R


86/92

T H O R - B O O S T E D P A Y L O A D , O R B I T ,A N D T RA J E C T O R Y D A T A

62 C H I 162 C H I 2OSCAR 262 O M E G A62 A - A L P H AT I ROS E62 A - B E T A62 A-GAMMA62 A - E P S I L O NT E L S T A R 162 A-E T A62 A - T H E T A62 A - K A P P A62 A-SIGMA62 A - U P S I L O N62 A - C H I62 A-PSIT l ROS F

62 B - A L P H AA L O U T T E62 0 - B E T A62 0-GAMMAE X P L O R E R 1462 0 -E P S I I -ON62 0 - K A P P A62 0 - L A M B D AE X P L O R E R 15

62 R-MU62 0 -OM I CRON62 B -RHO 162 8-S I GMA62 B - T A U 1.

26 D A Y S 7 ~ . 2 6 90-56-2-62 6.2842 "O R

Q-2-626-18-6212: 19:Ol6- 19-626-23-62

6-28-6208:857- 10-62

MIN.l96.21 .62-

-10 D A Y S7-7-62

18 D A Y S9-14-62-

212 .0135 - -78.2682O.13580.107s0.09760.01440.78

7-28-628-262

-62

9- 1-62

9-17-6208:539-1 8-629-29-629-29-6222:11:1410-2-62

0-9-6210-26-62

22:1510-27-6210-31-6211-5-621-24-62

12-4-6212-13-62

------285319-89--------

90.5MIH.92.3MIN.100.5MIN.89.6MIN.93.6MIN.157.5MIN.

27 D A Y S8-24-6224 D A Y S8-26-6212 D A Y S9-10.62-63 D A Y S11-1942-

-15 D A Y S10.14-62-

38 D A Y S1 1-1 6-62---

28 D A Y S12-3-6219 D A Y S12-1 3-624 D A Y S12-8-62-

------------------

' I 220920421231852516312237251 33040

700.00

820.20

650.15

820-84

81q8758O.29800e52

650.4132O.95810.9671.44

,0137.W29.0251

.W64

.0351

.2421IJSAF

U S A FIJSAF

IJSAF

U S A FU S A FN A S A

C A N A D AN A S AUSAF

N A S AU S A FUSAF

N A S AA F , NA S AN A V YUSAF

IJSAF

U S A F

90.64M I N.

90.73MIN.90.4MIN.94.4MI N.93.4MIN.98.7MIN105.5MIN.

90.32MIN.

36.25HRS.90.95

147.98MIN.

PPP

PP

A

A G E N AT H O RA G E N A

A G E N AA G E N AA G E N AT H O RA G E N AT H O RD E L T AT H O RA G E N AA G E N AT H O RD E L T AA G E N AT t i O RA G E N AT H O RD E L T AT H O RA B L ET A RT H O RA G E N AT H O RA G E N AT H O RA G E N A

A G E N A

500'13740.95

65q146S0.1970.28

10-225--170

12 021011222497221

37018211136737839954055210421 0152

53320113231100301 0

.0123-0157.OlM.O221.OM9.0025.oo17.0148-8947.016i.2920

107.8MIN.90.72MIN.89.98MIN.89.2MIN.

155.4MIN.

I?**, 14***6" BOX-----

'58264711 1218112 .14 8lo3126120

1525

.0068

.Old9

.0100

.0065

.I653

PB

P

A

pPA

A G E N A

N A S AUSAF

N A S A

A G E N AA G E N A

D E L T AT H O RA G E N AD E L T AD E L T A


87/92

THOR-BOOSTED PAY LOAD, O RBIT,AND TRAJECTORY DATA


88/92

6Abbreviations


89/92

ABBREVIATIONSABLACSPmmAF:SSDAm&x!AIRAPLARDCARLARPAAVTEACBMDBMOBTLCEACTLDACDl1DSVGEGSEGSFCIrnlIOCm.1IR3?l!TAU~Sc!UeEDLRCIIASAOSO

Allegany Ballistics LaboratoryA.C. Spark Plug Division, General Motors CorporationAir Force IJlissile Training CenterAir Force: Space Systems DivisionA e r o j e t General Corpora%ionAir Materiel C m dAtlantic Missile RangeApplied Physics Laboratory, John Hopkins UniversityAir Research and Developent CommandAtlantic Research LaboratoriesAdvanced Research Pro ect AgencyApplications Vertical TestBell Aircraft CompanyBallistic Nissile DivisionBallistic Missile OfficeBell Telephone LaboratoriesControl EZectronics AssemblyCambat Training LaunchDouglas Aircraft CompanyDouglas 14odelDouglas Space VehicleGeneral Electric CompanyGround Support EquipntGoddard Space Flight CenterIntercontinental Ballistic MissileInitial Operational CapabilityInternediate-Range Ballistic lblissileInhibited Bed I3.mb.g Nitric AcidLockheed Ilissiles and Space CompanyLoclcheed Missiles and Space DivisionLangley Research CenterNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOrbiting Solar Observatory


90/92

PecVErnPMRRAFRCAR & DRT-1R/NAARP-1RTVSACSM34SSDSTLTIROSUD1mUKUSAFv m1 mr/JSXSM

ABBREVIATIOlTS (~ontnued1Pratt & WhitneyPrecisely Guided Re-entry Test VehiclePacific Missile RangeRoyal Air ForceRtzdio Corporation of AmericaResearch and DevelopmentRamjet-1Rocketdyne--Division of North AmericanRocket Propellant-1Re-entry Test VehicleStrategic Air Camand- SAFSanta NonicaStrategic 14issileSpace Systems Division, Air Force Systems C o m n dSpace Technology Laboratories, Inc.Television and Infra-Red Observation SatelliteUnsymmetrical Dhethyl-HydrazineUnited KingdomUnited States Air ForceVandenberg Air Force Base'White Inhibited Funling Kitric AcidIleapons SystemEqerimentaL Strategic Missile .


91/92

From MCDONNELL DOUGL

CORPORATlON

DOUGLAS NEWS BUREAU Sanla Monica, California 90406(213) 399-9311, extension 2566

DELTA VEHICLE LAUNCH RECORD

EchoEcho ITIROS I1Explorer X (P-14)TIROS 111Explorer XI1 (s-C)TIROS IVOSO IAriel-I (UK-1)TIROS VTelstar ITIROS VIExplorer XIV (s-3~)Explorer XV (s-3~)Relay ISyncom IExplorer XVIITelstar I1TIROS VIISyncom I1Explorer XVIII (IMP-1)TIROS VIIIRelay I1Beacon Explorer (s-66)Syncom I11Explorer XXI (IMP-2)Explorer XXVI (~nergeticParticles ~xplorer-D)TIROS IXOSO I1Early BirdExplorer XXVIII (IMP-3)TIROS xOSO-CExplorer XXIX (GEOS I)Pioneer VI (solar orbit)ESSA IESSA I1Explorer XXXII (~trnosphere~xplorer-B)Explorer XXXIII (AIMP)Pioneer VII (solar orbit)ESSA I11

failedsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulfailedsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulfailedsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessfulsuccessful

I;BSMCHaMay 13, 1950Aug.12, 1960Nov. 23, 1950Mar. 25, 1961J U ~ Y 2, 1961Aug. 16, 1951Feb, 8, 1962Mar. 7, 1952Apr. 26, 1952June 19, 1962July 10, 1962Sept. 18, 1962Oct. 2, 1952oct. 27, 1962Dec. 13, 1962Feb. 14, 1963April 2, 1963May 7, 1953June 19,. 1963J U ~ Y 6, 1953Nov. 26, 1963Dec. 21, 1963Jan. 21, 1964Mar, 19, 1964Aug. 19, 1954Oct. 3, 1964Dec. 21, 1964Jan. 22, 1965Feb. 3, 1965Apr. 6, 1965May 29, 1965July 1, 1965Aug. 25, 1965Nov. 6, 1965Dec. 16, 1965Feb. 3, 1966Feb. 28, 1966May 25, 1966

(more)


92/92

LAUNCH RECORDMISSION--- RESULTS--

42 Intelsst IIA successful43 Biosatellite (BIOS I) a successful44 Intelsat IIB successful45 ESSA IV successful46 OSO 111 successful47 Intelsat IIC successful48 ESSA V successful49 Explorer XXXIV (IMP-6) successful50 Explorer XXXV (IMP-5) successful( lunar orb1t51 Biosatellite (BIOS 11) successful52 Intelsat IID successful53 OSO IV successful54 ESSA VI successful55 Pioneer VIII (solar orbit) successful(TTS-1 iggyback satelliteplaced in earth orbit)56 Explorer XXXVI (GEOS B) successful57 Explorer XXXVIII (RAE-A) successful59 ESSA VII successful59 Intelsat I11 failed60 Pioneer IX (solar orbit)' successful(TETR communicationssatellite placed inearth orbit)61 HEOS-A successful62 ESSA VIII successful63 Intelsat I11 (Atlantic) successful64 OSO V successful65 ISIS-A successful66 Intelsat 111 (pacific) successful

PAGE 2LAUNCH DATE-.-Oct. 26, 1966Dec. 14, 1966Jan. 11, 1967Jan. 26, 1957 (Mar. 8, 1967Mar. 22, 1967Apr. 20, 1957 (May 24, 1967 (WJuly 19 , 1957Sept. 7., 1967Sept. 27, 1967oct. 18, 1967NOV. 10, 1967 (Dec. 13> 1967Jan. 11, 1968 (July 4, 1968 (WAug. 16, 1968 (Sept. 18, 1968NOV. 8, 1968

Dec. 5, 1968Dec. 15, 1968 (Dec. 18, 1968Jan..22, 1969Jan,.29, 1969 (Feb. 5, 1969

(WTR--Western Test Range--all other launches from Cape ~ennedy)

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The Thor History

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