Atlas Able - Atlas Able - 1959-11-26 15,417 bytes. 140 x 490 pixels.

Atlas with upper stage based on Vanguard second stage.

Launches: 4. Failures: 4. Success Rate: 0.00% pct. First Launch Date: 26 November 1959. Last Launch Date: 15 December 1960. Payload: 250 kg. to a: Geosynchronous transfer trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 161,850 kgf. Total Mass: 120,051 kg. Core Diameter: 3.1 m. Total Length: 35.0 m. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 18.81 million. in 1985 unit dollars.

• Stage Number: 0. 1 x Atlas MA-2 Gross Mass: 3,050 kg. Empty Mass: 3,050 kg. Thrust (vac): 154,734 kgf. Isp: 282 sec. Burn time: 135 sec. Isp(sl): 248 sec. Diameter: 4.9 m. Span: 4.9 m. Length: 0.0 m. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 2. XLR-89-5

• Stage Number: 1. 1 x Atlas Able Gross Mass: 114,495 kg. Empty Mass: 4,200 kg. Thrust (vac): 37,038 kgf. Isp: 309 sec. Burn time: 275 sec. Isp(sl): 215 sec. Diameter: 3.1 m. Span: 4.9 m. Length: 20.6 m. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 1. XLR-105-5

• Stage Number: 2. 1 x Able Gross Mass: 2,268 kg. Empty Mass: 816 kg. Thrust (vac): 3,500 kgf. Isp: 270 sec. Burn time: 115 sec. Isp(sl): 240 sec. Diameter: 0.8 m. Span: 0.8 m. Length: 6.6 m. Propellants: Nitric acid/UDMH No Engines: 1. AJ10-101

• Stage Number: 3. 1 x Altair 1 Gross Mass: 238 kg. Empty Mass: 30 kg. Thrust (vac): 1,270 kgf. Isp: 256 sec. Burn time: 38 sec. Isp(sl): 233 sec. Diameter: 0.5 m. Span: 0.5 m. Length: 1.8 m. Propellants: Solid No Engines: 1. X-248

• RAND lunar instrument carrier based on the Atlas booster

  The RAND Corporation issued the first of a series of reports on the feasibility of a lunar instrument carrier, based on the use of an Atlas booster. A braking rocket would decelerate the vehicle before lunar landing, and a penetration spike on the forward point of the instrument package would help to absorb the 500 feet per second impact velocity. Instruments would then transmit information on the lunar surface to earth.

• Pioneer (P 3) Spacecraft: Pioneer P 3. Payload: Pioneer P 3 / Able IVB. Mass: 168 kg.

  An intended lunar probe launched from the Atlantic Missile Range by an Atlas-Able booster disintegrated about 45 seconds later when the protective sheath covering the payload detached prematurely. The probe was sponsored by NASA, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and launched by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division.

• Pioneer (P 31) Spacecraft: Pioneer P 3. Payload: Pioneer P 31.

• Pioneer (P 30) Spacecraft: Pioneer P 3. Payload: Pioneer P 30 / Able VA. Mass: 175 kg.

  An attempt to launch a Pioneer satellite into lunar orbit failed when one of the upper stages of the Atlas- Able rocket malfunctioned.

• Pioneer (P 31) Spacecraft: Pioneer P 3. Payload: Pioneer P 31 / Able VB. Mass: 175 kg.

  The final launch in the Pioneer lunar probe program was unsuccessful; the Atlas-Able booster rocket went out of control and exploded at an altitude of 12,200 m off Cape Canaveral.

• 45 - Koelle, Heinz Hermann,, Handbook of Astronautical Engineering, McGraw-Hill,New York, 1961.