#atlas-centaur

[stone-cold-groove]

Atlas-Centaur launch system test failure - May 1962.

[humanoidhistory]

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: An Atlas-Centaur rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral on July 14, 1967, carrying the Surveyor 4 lunar probe on a mission to the Moon.

(San Diego Air & Space Museum)

[historical-spaceflight]

March 2nd, 1972 - Pioneer 10 is launched aboard an Atlas-Centaur at Cape Canaveral. Carrying an array of scientific instruments, Pioneer 10 was able to map the interaction between planetary magnetic fields, detect solar wind particles coming from the sun, study cosmic rays and the impacts of micro-meteors. The Pioneer 10 mission was conducted by NASA Ames Research Center. 

Pioneer 10 crossed the asteroid belt in mid-1972, and at the end of 1973 conducted it’s flyby of Jupiter, giving us an incredible look at the gas giant, charting it’s radiation belts and magnetic field, and expanding our knowledge of the 5th planet form the sun more than ever before.

Being one of the first man-made space probes set out to study the solar system, it was Carl Sagan who suggested the 6 inch by 9 inch gold-anodized aluminum plaque be placed on the Pioneers, if by some chance, in the distant future, intelligent life may find them in deep space. The plaque features a diagram of our solar system, a map to find our planet, and the anatomies of male and female human figures that live there. The shapes behind the male and female figures represent the Pioneer probe, to give a sense of scale and size when compared to the probe itself.

Continuing it’s journey, Pioneer 10, along with Pioneer 11, the Voyager probes and the more recent New Horizons, will make it’s way to interstellar space. It is currently about 118 AU from Earth, and travelling at close to 27,000 miles per hour. 

The last, weak signal from Pioneer 10 was received in January, 2003 as the transmitter lost power. It will silently continue into deep space long past the existence of humanity.

[humanoidhistory]

When a test flight goes bad: On March 2, 1965, a valve malfunction on an Atlas-Centaur rocket caused booster engines to shut down. The vehicle fell back on the launch pad and “Boom!!” (SDASM)

[humanoidhistory]

An Atlas-Centaur rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral on July 14, 1967, carrying the Surveyor 4 lunar probe on a mission to the Moon.

(San Diego Air & Space Museum)

[photorator]

Atlas-Centaur V exploding just after liftoff The fuel pre-valve closed causing the booster engines to lose thrust allowing the vehicle to impact the launcher assembly and break up March

[kb3wfz]

On March 2, 1965 the fifth of the R&D Atlas-Centaurs was launched form LC-36A but failed abruptly just after liftoff. The cause was determined to be the fuel (RP-1) pre-valve that apparently closed causing the booster engines to lose thrust thus allowing the fully loaded vehicle to impact the launcher assembly and break up releasing all the propellants of the Atlas stage creating a huge fireball of explosive force.

[dicepterons]

HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN – 1 Pioneer 10 blasted into space from Cape Canaveral on March 2nd 1972 on top of an Atlas-Centaur rocket.