TA Thor Agena B - TA Thor Agena B - COSPAR 1963-027 16,306 bytes. 148 x 458 pixels.

Thor Agena B upgraded with addition of three Castor 1 strap-on motors.

Launches: 3. Failures: 0. Success Rate: 100.00% pct. First Launch Date: 29 June 1963. Last Launch Date: 15 May 1966. LEO Payload: 400 kg. to: 1,000 km Orbit. at: 100.0 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 160,200 kgf. Total Mass: 67,500 kg. Core Diameter: 2.4 m. Total Length: 31.0 m. Flyaway Unit Cost $: 19.56 million. in 1985 unit dollars.

• Stage Number: 0. 3 x Castor 1 Gross Mass: 3,852 kg. Empty Mass: 535 kg. Thrust (vac): 29,164 kgf. Isp: 247 sec. Burn time: 27 sec. Isp(sl): 232 sec. Diameter: 0.8 m. Span: 0.8 m. Length: 5.9 m. Propellants: Solid No Engines: 1. M33-20-4

• Stage Number: 1. 1 x Delta Thor TA Gross Mass: 49,442 kg. Empty Mass: 3,175 kg. Thrust (vac): 88,380 kgf. Isp: 290 sec. Burn time: 150 sec. Isp(sl): 256 sec. Diameter: 2.4 m. Span: 2.4 m. Length: 18.4 m. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 1. MB-3-3

• Stage Number: 2. 1 x Agena B Gross Mass: 7,167 kg. Empty Mass: 867 kg. Thrust (vac): 7,257 kgf. Isp: 285 sec. Burn time: 240 sec. Isp(sl): 0 sec. Diameter: 1.5 m. Span: 1.5 m. Length: 7.1 m. Propellants: Nitric acid/UDMH No Engines: 1. Bell 8081

• OPS 1440 Spacecraft: Ferret. Payload: Ferret 4 / Agena B 2314. Mass: 1,500 kg.

• Alouette 2 Spacecraft: Alouette. Payload: Alouette 2 / Explorer 31. Mass: 145 kg.

  Ionospheric research; data correlated with Explorer 31. The double-launch project, known as ISIS-X was the first in a new co-operative NASA-Canadian Defense Research Board program for International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. Alouette was in orbit with an apogee just over a kilometre lower than Explorer 31's and with a perigee of just more than a kilometre higher. The orbits were some 3000 km at apogee and 500 km at perigee.

• Explorer 31 Spacecraft: DME. Payload: DME A. Mass: 99 kg.

  Ionospheric research; data correlated with Alouette 2. The Explorer 31, Direct Measurement Explorer, was launched with a Canadian Alouette II on November 28, 1965, on a Thor-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The double-launch project, known as ISIS-X was the first in a new co-operative NASA-Canadian Defense Research Board program for International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. Explorer 31 was in orbit with an apogee just over a kilometre more than Alouette's and with a perigee of just more than a kilometre lower. The orbits were some 3000 km at apogee and 500 km at perigee. Eight ionospheric measurement experiments sampled the environment both forward and after the satellite's path.

• Nimbus 2 Spacecraft: Nimbus. Payload: Nimbus C. Mass: 414 kg.

  TV, IR cloud cover photos. The spacecraft carried an advanced vidicon camera system for recording and storing remote cloud cover pictures, an automatic picture transmission camera for providing real-time cloudcover pictures, and both high- and medium-resolution infrared radiometers (HRIR and MRIR) for measuring the intensity and distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted by and reflected from the earth and its atmosphere. The spacecraft and experiments performed normally after launch until July 26, 1966, when the spacecraft tape recorder failed. Its function was taken over by the HRIR tape recorder until November 15, 1966, when it also failed. Some real-time data were collected until January 17, 1969, when the spacecraft mission was terminated owing to deterioration of the horizon scanner used for earth reference.

• 42 - Isakowitz, Steven J,, International Reference to Space Launch Systems Second Edition, AIAA, Washington DC, 1991.