| NASA Center: |
Kennedy Space Center |
| Image # : |
Titan-Centaur |
|---|
| Date : |
01/20/1974
|
|---|
|
Title
Viking Pre-Launch Test Flight
Full Description
The Titan booster is a two-stage liquid-fueled rocket, with two
additional large, solid-propellant rockets attached. It is a
member of the Titan family that was used in NASA's Gemini
program. The Centaur is a liquid oxygen- liquid hydrogen, high-
energy upper stage used on Surveyor flights to the Moon and on
Mariner flights to Mars. At liftoff, the solid rockets provide
9.61 million newtons (2.16 million pounds) of thrust. When the
solids burn out, the first stage of the Titan booster ignites,
and followed by the second-stage ignition as the first stage
shuts down. The Centaur ignites on second stage shutdown to
inject the spacecraft into orbit. Then after a 30-minute coast
around the Earth into position for re-start, the Centaur
re-ignites to propel Viking on its Mars trajectory. Once this
maneuver is completed the spacecraft separates from the Centaur,
which subsequently is deflected away from the flight path to
prevent its impact on the surface of Mars. Shortly after
separating from the Centaur, the orbiter portion of the combined
orbiter-lander spacecraft orients and stabilizes the spacecraft
by using the Sun and a very bright star in the southern sky,
Canopus, for celestial reference. 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.
Keywords
Titan Surveyor Mariner Centaur Gemini Viking launch vehicle, 74-H-
109, 74-HC-48
Subject Category
Titan/ Centaur
Reference Numbers
- Center:
KSC
- Center Number:
Titan-Centaur
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2003-00047
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: NASA
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
| Thumbnail |
JPEG |
71 |
88 |
9 |
| Small |
JPEG |
566 |
707 |
293 |
| Medium |
JPEG |
1180 |
1472 |
1,508 |
| Large |
JPEG |
2360 |
2944 |
8,463 |
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Updated Aug 20, 2009
• History Questions: NASA History Office
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