N O T I C E THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED FROM MICROFICHE. ALTHOUGH IT IS RECOGNIZED THAT CERTAIN PORTIONS ARE ILLEGIBLE, IT IS BEING RELEASED IN THE INTEREST OF MAKING AVAILABLE AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE KSC Historical Report No. 1 (KHR-1, Revised 1979) Eastern Test Range (ETR) July 1980 Western Test Range (WTR) A Summary of Major NASA Launches October 1,1958 - December 31,1979 1 A (NASA-TI-81 106) ). SUIIIARY 01 IAJOR NASA N80- 28386 LAUIVICRXS, 1 OCTOBER 1958 - 31 JECEIBEB 1979 (NASA) 201 p HC AlO/BF A01 CSCL 22A TJocl as , THOR MERCURY DELTA MERCURY ATLAS ATLAS GEMINI TlTANIll-E SATURN SATURN ACOLLO DELTA REOSTONE ATLAS AGENA CENTAc ,- TITAN II CENTAUR I I8 SATURN V SKYACOLLO LA8 SPACE SHUTTLE FORE WORU With the publ ication of this edition, "A Slmary of Major NASA Launches" nw spans more than twenty-one years in the launch history of the Nationa: Aeroriautics and Space Administrat.~on, frorn October 1, 1958, through Decanber 31, 1979. The initial brief sumnary of NASA Atlantic Missile Range (AMR) launches was pre- pared in 1962 as a reference tool for internal use within the Launch Operations Center Historical Branch. Repeated requests for infor~natioriconcerning f4ASA launch activities warranted the presentation of this information in handy form for broeder distribution. The Summary now includes major NASA launches conducted under the direction of the John F. Kennedy Space Center (or its precursors) from the Eastern and Western Test Ranges. It does not include launches of non-mi 1itary, non-NASA spacecraft by the U.S. Air Force or launches of the small NASA Scout vehicle. This edition supersedes 811 previous issues of this Historical R~port. The rnateri a1 contai ned in this report was compi 1ed from several different sour'ces. Docunents consulted include: Operations Sumnaries, post-launch Flash ~lisht Reports, Final Field Reports, Mission Operations Reports (both pre-launch and post-launch), and Satellite Situation Repor&. Other major references were publications of the NASA Historical Office, such as: Aeronautics and Astronautics 1916-1960; Aeronautical and Astronautical E vents of 1961-1962 ; Aeronautics and Astronautics (yearly editions since f96T,mgs Pocket Statistics (published monthly). The writer is indebted to Mr. Marven R. Whipple, USAF ETR Historian, now retired, for providing data not otherwise available, and to Mr. William A. Lockyer, who prepared the previous edition of this report. Ms. Donna A. Clement, Mr. Joseph L. Green, and Mr. Hubert E. Griggs, McGregor-Werner Information Services Unit, provided valuable editorial assistance. The report is divided into projects within broad mission categories. Individual launches are listed In chronological order vif5in the categories. Mission results have been categorized as: successful (S); unsuccessful (U) ; or, pdrtially successful (P). A successful launch, fol lowed by a spacecraft fai lure, is designated (P). These are arbitrary classifications, made after a comparison of objectives and actual resul ts. A similar document, prepared in chart form, is available up011 request. Comnents, criticismns, and suggest ions for the ilnprove~nentof this publ ication are sol icited. Correspondence should be addressed to KSC Historical Services (SI-SRV- 1) , John F. Kennedy Space Center, tIASA, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899. Francis E. Jarrett KX Historian ..... ..... ..... ..... .....a*.*. ..... ..... ..... ..... ......a*.. .......me. ..... ..... ......a.m. ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... mn. om a*. .. :zme :... : : il...... na.....J ... z %%: :H =I- .W z 32 . .I- W JY. L uu. .m.- -1JCYLIC 9 eor -00 0 WWW* WWWW a Lza>% OO=rQ?L 2 --u==) naemJ or I 3 A ............. ...0.. ....... ... ............... ... ....... ... ....... ... ....... ... ....... ... ....... ... ....... h.. ... :::i#::...... ... 0.0 ... ....... C.. .. ... ..........Is.. ... ....V). ... ::::%:: ... ....u.. ... n... .. V)...Wr. ... .C ... Oh. =:..n.. n***d*. .V) . C...-l.. .O u. OW" . .W 0. .+V) . 0- :s W .u 3 : c, :d, :*- : -w. -I .O .A V)t A .L .UW 0'- .CC WA :U .zn -u-ad : i#ii CV) m-Y) .OC ess ZUO :zgi : ZzS z3z AUA CkJY *L-J.> :. >-au :ws. ewu- CYCU .A- sOe wmr .u(1 An V) 0 .LO mcnn e0-l 2si OOC .uO * nzw CU .CP: CWC 0-a *ua . Z U w u maw : -mum a-1n .WC Qca uuo .nu az .or OZZ LOV) . I%T -+aL-0 .** . CWS <u : Lac+ :z%*LZ 2-rwua -00 -0 Zk!O .UUC. mow .*be 2ss >meem +z 51m03*C-o w * a: W0OCPOV)V)L' OQW AOCQZOOC 00- w-r-WWW * wwe Cb-Zaa3E m '3aJ TABLE OF COHTENTS (Continued) PAGE MANNED SPACE FLIGHT MERCURY GEMINI APOLLO MSFN TRAINING SATELLITESa~aaaaaaa*~aaa~aaaaaa*a~a~~~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaV-12 SUBORBITAL~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~a~~~*~~~~~aaaV-14 EARTH ORBITALaaaaaaa~a~aaaaa~~~aaaaaaaa~aaaa~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaV-16 LUNAR 0RBITAL~a.a.a~~aaaaaaaaaaaaa~aaaaaa~a~aaa~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoV-23 LUNAR LANDINGa~aa.a.a*aaaaa****aa~*acaaa~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaV-25 SKY LAB APOLLO-SOY UZ TEST PROJECT APPENDICES A: SUMMARY OF LAUNCHES PRIOR TO OCTOBER 1958 IN SPACE PROJECTS LATER TRANSFERRED TO MSA VANGUARD**aa*aa*...aaaaa~aca~~aaaa~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaA02 EXPLORERaaaaa*a*aaaaaaaaa~aaaaaaa~aaa~a~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa*aaaaaaaaaaa*aaaaaaaaaaaaA-6 PIONEERa*.a.aao.aa*aa**aaaaaa*aeaaa~*aaaa a.aaaaaa.aaaa*aaaaa*aaaaaa*aa*aa~aa*aaaaaa*aaa A09 8: CHRONOLOGICAL IfiDEX OF LAUNCHES~~.a*.*.a~aaaaa*a~~~a~aa*aaa*aaaaa**a*a**a*aaaaaaaaaaaaa8-1 C: ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF LAUNCHESaa~~aa.....~..a~~aaa*oaaaaa**~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaC-1 a, 9 9 5?8 rC) c-* 4s %a- -- m SF+@ r a* a @4Q)O'II -"Ps *r. U- OS'SaO~*~Z rw- &e t! g$ s""> 4 C'rU' 4zms= L ow- Y) -@- as VL su- -0)OY)~gl*gte taB=I6 vDz'E@ 2s9 '3 z L@C na~umo m* urL I ameg ~NS0 04 n uuwB 0 - - I P (nhr 0 cn COW Po@mw 0)dOIOU 3-n @ '~~'5 mu, 0) c u, 0)m 1 ce, a, Et &rI wgscll$Zi L--EWY) 0- u,rcn- C worn% --BOcrPLE 0) ULO P"P g x zc cz 8=5 cll r,c.aiiCU 3 -2%C & ce, cc C 84a cll c,s - - cn U 0) i$ase* 0 C.- 0)-a 0 C L -0 p 2 g;: ZgQ-c arc*, \ EoIma esw-' E WV) I L C a 8'a*, he9- -s C - r mC .ru3- B C L cd C 8 a 9-t 0 .r .C 0 UP- .r .* C L C Q)- m-3 x .r au a 0- IC 0 cn .C) 5 o 9.C J cC) 5% (U Pa, x n mu, A a a hV) aual 0- Or- E = P Fi cn -0 aC, al 0 Eu, =5= Y maQ)L~ o C a!at C, 9.0 cn a .c A h u LL 7 -w rJ ZS urn 4 urn 'Qrn ,a 4 2.2 or: C,dv 0 1 or: 3s Flal aQ) 5s 53 > 3- m= 3-59 3- PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY (continued) Mission Launch Launch NASA Sitc/ Name Date/Time Vehicle -Code -Pad Renarks/Resul ts Explorer 12 15 Aug 61 Delta S-3 ETR 37.64-kg (83-lb) spacecraft designed to provide 2221 EST DM-19 17A data on magnetic fields, energetic partfcles, and (Del ta-6) solar wind. Data received from all utperiaents; transmitted until 6 December 1961; re-entered in Septenber 1963. (S) Explorer 14 2 Oct 62 Delta S-3a ETR 36.28-kg (80-1 b) spacecraft injected into highly I 1711 EST DSV-3A 170 elliptical orbit--98,476 x 280 km (61,190 x 974 I (Del ta-13) sm), inclination 33O, period 36.4 hours. Energetic particles experiment. Sti11 in orbit, but orbital elements no longer maintained. Data transmission continued until 10 August 1963. (S) Explorer 15 27 Oct 62 Delta S-3b ETR A 44.45-kg (98-lb) satellite to stu4y artificial 1815 EST DSV -3A 178 radiation belt. High spin rate, still in orbit, (Del ta-14) but orbital elements no longer maintained. (S) Explorer 17 2 Apr 63 Del ta S-6 ETR A 183.7-kg (405-lb) satellite studied density, 2100 EST DSV-3B 17A pressure, composition, and temperature of the (Del ta-17) Earth's upper atmosphere. Re-entered on 24 November 1966. (S) Explorer 18 26 Nov 63 Del ta IMP-A ETR Successful launching of an Interplanetary hi tor- 2130 EST DSV- X (S-74) 170 ing Probe; its mission was to measure the f~jor (Del ta-21) magnetic field phenomena in space, incfudijcg the interplanetary magnetic field, interactiws of the streaming solar plasma, and the qeomagnetic field, galactic and solar radiation. Rz-entered in Decelllber 1965. (S) \ we k-h Ecno Wrc -iD- PY rn-WV) -e- CU Q) I Sr- W UV (Om@ C-r @I- =Is FWQ) 'waJ acne A> no- PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY (continued) Mission Launch Launch NASA Site/ Name .Date/Time Vehicle -C ode -Pad Remarks/Resul t s Explorer 31 28 Nov 65 Thor-Agena DME-A WTR Dual launch of 98.88-kg (218-lb) spacecraft with 2349 EST (Thrust- SLC-2E Alouette 2 (total pa: load 245 kg--541 lb). Com (2049 PST ) Augmented) plemented A1 ouette by taking measurements of iono- (Thor- spheric characteristics with a companion Agena-5) spacecraft as part of ISIS-X program. Sti11 in orbit ; sti11 transmitting. Orbital parameters are: 2,939 x 505 krn (1,826 x 314 sm), period 121 mins, inclination 79.s0. (S) E~plorer32 25 May 66 Dei ta AE-B ETR Atmosphere Explorer; the 224.5-kg 1495-lb) payload 0900 EST DSV-3C (S-6 a) 178 was desi gned to col 1ect temperat composition, (Del ta-38) density, and pressure data to perlnlt the study of the physics of the atmosphere on a global basis. Still in orbit--1,664 x 255 km (1,034 x 158 sm), period 104 mins, inclination 64.6'.