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Unloading Atlas Launch Vehicle Main Content
NASA Center: Kennedy Space Center
Image # : GroundAtlas
Date : 04/23/1961

Title

Unloading Atlas Launch Vehicle

Full Description

The Atlas launch vehicle is shown being unloaded at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This vehicle was expected to launch a Mercury spacecraft (without any astronauts aboard), built by McDonnell Aircraft Corp., into orbit. The Atlas attempted to place the Mercury spacecraft into its first orbital flight. The spacecraft was supposed to be launched in an orbital flight path and reentry was to be initiated about 90 minutes later as the craft neared the end of the first orbit. Unfortunately, this Atlas exploded at launch. Atlas was designed to launch payloads into low Earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. NASA first launched Atlas as a space launch vehicle in 1958. Project SCORE, the first communications satellite that transmitted President Eisenhower's pre-recorded Christmas speech around the world, was launched on an Atlas. For all three robotic lunar exploration programs, Atlas was used. Atlas/ Centaur vehicles launched both Mariner and Pioneer planetary probes. The current operational Atlas II family has a 100% mission success rating. For more information about Atlas, please see Chapter 2 in Roger Launius and Dennis Jenkins' book To Reach the High Frontier published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2002.

Keywords

Atlas Mercury launch vehicle Eisenhower SCORE communications, 61- MA3-1

Subject Category

Atlas

Reference Numbers

  • Center: KSC
  • Center Number: GroundAtlas
  • GRIN DataBase Number: GPN-2003-00041

Source Information

  • Creator/Photographer: NASA
  • Original Source: NASA

Image Information ( Copyright Notification )

ResolutionFormatWidth
(Pixels)		Height
(Pixels)		Size
(KBytes)
Thumbnail JPEG 89 71 8
Small JPEG 711 571 278
Medium JPEG 1482 1189 1,238
Large JPEG 2963 2378 7,025

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Updated October 31, 2002
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