Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z

---

Atlas C Able

---

Status: Retired 1959. First Launch: 1959-09-24. Last Launch: 1959-09-24. Number: 1 . Thrust: 1,615.00 kN (363,066 lbf). Gross mass: 120,000 kg (260,000 lb). Height: 28.00 m (91.00 ft). Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft). Apogee: 400,000 km (240,000 mi).

• Atlas C Able explodes on pad during static test. - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Pioneer.

  A participant remembers:

  I live near the Cape on Merritt Island and have been here for about 41 years. I worked for the ARMA Corp that developed the Atlas Inertial Guidance System. I was in the Blockhouse at Complex 11 while a static test was performed on an Atlas Able on Complex 12. It did explode. Did it ever! After a couple of hours the six of us were allowed out of the blockhouse and saw all the damage to our complex...I had a tiny piece of that missile for a long time that somehow wound up on my person...labeled 9C.

  The next Atlas Able would not fly until over a year later, using the Atlas D as the booster stage.