Atlas-Centaur
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 An Atlas-Centaur launching Surveyor 1 |
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| Function | Expendable launch system |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Convair General Dynamics |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | LC-36, Cape Canaveral |
| Total launches | 61 |
| Successes | 51 |
| Failures | 8 |
| Partial failures | 2 |
| Maiden flight | 9 May 1962 |
| Last flight | 19 May 1983 |
The Atlas-Centaur was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas missile. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used for 61 orbital launches between 1962 and 1983.[1] It was replaced by the Atlas G, which still contains a Centaur upper stage on top of an Atlas rocket. It was the first rocket to use cryogenic fuel; the Centaur stage burned liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
The Atlas-Centaur was a two-and-one-half stage rocket, with a stage and a half Atlas rocket as its first stage and a half, and a Centaur upper stage. Initially, a modified Atlas D, designated LV-3C, was used as the first stage[2] This was quickly replaced by SLV-3C, and later the SLV-3D, both derived from the standard Atlas SLV-3 rocket. Two spaceflights, with the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 space probes to Jupiter, Saturn, exiting the Solar System, used a three- and-one-half stage configuration, with a "Star-37E" solid-fueled final stage.
Launches were conducted from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The fifth launch of an Atlas-Centaur exploded on the launch pad, causing significant damage, and persuading NASA and the Air Force to proceed with the completion of a previously abandoned back-up launch pad at Launch Ccomplex-36B.[3]Such launch failures turned out to be very rare during the use of the Atlas-Centaur rocket, and its successors, whatever they were called. Not calling them "Atlas-Centaurs" is somewhat of an exercise in splitting hairs.
A number of later rockets were derived from the Atlas-Centaur; the Atlas G, Atlas I, Atlas II, Atlas III, and the Atlas V, the latter of which is still in service.
[edit] Variants
| Name | First launch | Last launch | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas LV-3C Centaur-A | 1962-05-09 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B | 1963-11-27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Atlas LV-3C Centaur-C | 1964-06-30 | 1965-03-03 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Atlas LV-3C Centaur-D | 1965-08-11 | 1967-07-14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D | 1967-09-08 | 1972-08-21 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | One flight with Star-37E upper stage |
| Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A | 1974-03-05 | 1975-05-22 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | One flight with Star-37E upper stage |
| Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR | 1975-09-26 | 1983-05-19 | 26 | 24 | 1 | 1 | |
| Later rockets derived from the Atlas-Centaur | |||||||
| Atlas G | 1984-06-09 | 1989-09-25 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | (Atlas G Centaur-D1AR) |
| Atlas I | 1990-07-25 | 1997-04-25 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |
| Atlas II | 1991-12-07 | 2004-08-31 | 63 | 63 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas III | 2000-05-24 | 2005-02-03 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas V | 2002-08-21 | Active | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | |
[edit] References
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