For lunar missions, you will quickly outgrow the Thor-based launchers and some sort of Atlas-derivative is an obvious next step on the American tech tree. I don't quite get what exactly your question is regarding Atlas. This applies to both Agena A and the early AJ10s.ģ) Ablestar unlocks a year before Agena B, so the AJ10 family gets access to restartability a bit earlier.Ĥ) The Juno IV is a good engine and could take Agena's place, if you don't mind that is was never flown historically. You might have to underburn your TLI stage. Agena is often the superior choice between the two because it is pump-fed and therefore does not require high-pressure tanks.Ģ) Lunar missions can be a bit tricky without restartable engines, because you cannot (easily) use the same stage for LEO circularization and TLI burn. Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.You need to be a bit more precise - what exactly is it that you are asking?ġ) If you restrict yourself to American engines that have seen real-world use, you only have Agena and the AJ10 series as upper stages in the early satellite era. Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The missile engine compartment of the Agena A rocket. Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 18, Hd, 1200m, 1 Mufasa Forever (Mr Speaker), 2 Gran Facundo. There are two sizes available according to your needs: The 1:48 scale measures. RM 2M971RPAn Atlas-Agena rocket is launched from Cape Kennedy on 25 October 1965 for the first dual launch ready for an in-orbit rendezvous with a Gemini. Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This is a 3D-printed model of the Thor Agena rocket/space launch vehicle. The Agena itself was actually the first general-purpose satellite, and formed the. The Agena space vehicle was used in large numbers during the 1960s and 1970s as upper stage with SLV-2 Thor, SLV-3 Atlas and SLV-5 Titan boosters to launch a variety of military and civilian payloads into orbit. Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station The engine nozzle of the Agena A rocket. Agena A Nitric acid/UDMH propellant rocket stage. 1978, on an Atlas-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Seasat carried payload of. Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Credit: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station The top of the Agena A rocket’s aft side. When rocket rose into the sky north of Los Angeles in dazzling evening launch 10 years ago this week, the satellite it carried was destined to usher in new era of space research focusing on unsolved questions of the worlds oceans and weather. The top of the Agena A rocket’s aft side. Paint peeling and cracking on the aft nozzle of the Agena B rocket. The first few Agenas, including the vehicle used in the Discoverer-1 launch, used a Bell XLR-81-BA-3 rocket engine, but most vehicles of the. Here is what the rockets look like today: The nose cone of the Agena B rocket. The Air Force does not yet have funding for the restoration, according to the proposal. In accompanying documentation, the Air Force makes clear the vintage wheels the rockets sit on are not to be replaced. Pad TBD, Rocket Lab Launch Complex, Mahia. Now, as part of an effort to restore the rockets, the Air Force is looking for a small business to repair damaged sheet metal, repaint the boosters, and emblazon the rockets with their original insignias and stenciling. Live coverage and the most up-to-date schedule of all upcoming Thor-Agena D launches. In a series of photos posted to the Federal Business Opportunities web site in July, the rockets are shown with peeling and cracking paint and patches of corrosion. Years of outdoor display in what the service describes as “a semi-marine atmosphere,” means the rockets are in need of new paint and some general freshening up. The engine was mounted horizontally on a test bed that was suspended from the thrust stand frame. It contained two parallel test stands capable of firing 5,000-pound-thrust engines. Today, each of the rockets is on display outside the Air Force Space and Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Cell 22 was the laboratory’s primary rocket engine and propellants testing facility throughout the 1950s. Air Force, the effort requires a nearly 150-page request for proposals.Īgena A and Agena B, a member of the Atlas family of rockets, launched 33 times from 1960-1966, were used to lift the Ranger lunar spacecraft and the Mariner Venus fly-by spacecraft into orbit. WASHINGTON – What does it take to restore two 1960s-era rockets to their pre-launch appearance?įor the U.S.
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