Reader Ad Slot
Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.
DOW-UAP-D48, Department of the Air Force Report, 1996
Page 111
111 / 181
Atlas vehicles are fueled by a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene (RP-1). The latest
HAS configuration also incorporates Castor IVA solid-rocket motors. The early Atlas
core vehicle included a sustainer, verniers, and two booster engines, all ignited prior to
liftoff. In the Atlas II, IIA, and HAS vehicles, the vernier engines have been replaced by
a hydrazine roll-control system. Of the four Castor SRBs on the HAS, two are ground
lit and two are air lit some 60 seconds later. Atlas vehicles are now typically integrated
with the Centaur upper stage vehicle that is fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid
hydrogen. Earlier flights used an Agena upper stage.
The entire Atlas history through 1995 is depicted rather compactly in bar-graph form in
Figure 37. The solid-block portion of each bar indicates the number of launches during
the calendar year for which vehicle performance was entirely normal, in-so far as could
be determined. The clear white parts forming the tops of most bars show the number
of launches that were either failures or flights where the launch vehicle experienced
some sort of anomalous behavior. Every launch with an entry in the response mode
column in Table 41 falls in this category. Such behavior did not necessarily prevent the
attainment of some, or even all, mission objectives.
50
!
i
45
!
!
on••••••----;••••• ••••..••;• • •••..••••••;••••••••••••••••;••••••••••••••••;..••• ....••••••••;••••••••••••••••;•••••••••••••••••;•••
40
......
/ . · -1 · -l7.iFw1lre1Alomrui............. )...
CJ)
!
:
!
• Norrr,al P~rforrtjance !
C: 35
••..•••••....
•
i
.. ··
•
f'• o '
o uoo t
•••••..••••-!--••••••••••--••• •••••••..•••h••'l••••..•••••••••••t••..••••••..••••i•••••••••••n••••~•••
0·u;
I
I
I
I
I
I
CJ) 30 ············
i i i l i i
~
CJ)
j
i
i
i
i
i
m
............
•••••••• ,:......................................................................,!'.................... .
':.:; 25
!
!
!
i
i
l
i
!
i
i
!
!
0
H-1+---•··---•• ••••~••••..••••••••••t•••••••••U••••• ,•••••••••••••••••t•••••••••••..•••i:•••••••••••••••••, •••
-
<(
20
1
i
l
!
·!
i
"
Q)
.c
!
!
!
!
!
!
....·................·................·.................·................ '.................·...
E 15
::::, z
1
I I I ! I
10
••'••······················· ··••'••···························.....·................ .
1
1
I
I I
5
•
•• ···············1·····
0 55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
Launch Year
Figure 37. Atlas Launch Summary
9/10/96
102
RTI
Community corrections
No user corrections yet.
Comments
No comments on this document yet.
Bottom Reader Ad Slot
Bottom Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.
Continue Exploring
Explore This Archive Cluster
Broad Topic Hub
Topic Hub
staff declassified
flying objects ufo
ufo
Related subtopics
Subtopic
Subtopic