atlas centaur ac-1 press kit

8/8/2019 Atlas Centaur AC-1 Press Kit

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-NEWS RELEASENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION400 MARYLAND AVENUE, SW, WASHINGTON 25, D.C.TELEPHONES WORTH 2-4155--WORTH 3- 1110FOR RELEASE: A.M':;, Tue-dayApril 3, 3962

RELEASE- NO. 'a-s6

FIRST L'AUNCIIH OF CENTAUR '-JEHICLESCHEDULET)The first Centaur launch vehicle will be test flown inthe next several days by the National. Aeronaut:ics and SpaceAdministration. The rocket wi:.ll be launched over a mediumrange ballistic trajectory from Cape Canaveral, Florida, ina preliminary to.-t to provide a broad range of informationneeded for the further development and orbital testing of

the system.This will be the first U. S. attempt to launch a vehiclethat uses high-energy liquid hydrogen fuel. The upper stageof Centaur is powered by two RL-10 liquid hydrogen/liquidoxygen engines, each developing 15,000 pounds of thrust.Hydrogen offers more pounds of thrust per pound of pro-pellant consumed per second than any other fuel possible inchemical rockets. It provides approximately 4oo per cent morethrust per pound of propellant flowr per second than hydro-carbons such a.s kerosene which are used in some of' the

conventional rocket engines.Centaur makes it possible for the U. S. to launchspacecraft of much greater size and weight then ever before.The Centaur is being developed by General Dynamics/Astronautics under the technical. direction of the NASAMarshall Space Flight Center. Centaur stage rocket enginesare produced by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Division of UnitedAircraft Corporation and Rocketdyne Division of North AmericanAviation produces the rockets for the Atlas booster. Launchingwill be under the direction of NASA'As Launch Operations Center.In this first test, the Centaur will be launched over atrajectory of about 1,175 miles in range and 300 miles inC) altitude. The flight will take about 15 minutes.

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5. The four insulation panels providing thermal protec-tion to the second stage hydrogen tank during ascent throughthe atmosphere are to be jettisoned on command from the firststage autopilot during the powered flight of the Atlas. Thesequence is being studied to verify the operation of theexplosive bolts and separation springs.6. A principal objective is to prove the ability of thesecond stage autopilot to issue proper commands during re-orientation, main-powered and coast phases. During coastperiod, the second stage is oriented so that sun rays strikethe rear insulated bulkhead to lessen hydrogen boil-off duringthe extended coasts. Prior to engine ignition, the vehiclemust reassume proper flight attitude. The autopilot providessequencing commands, executes guidance commands, and maintainsvehicle stabilization.7. Other flight objectives include demonstration inflight of Centaur's all-inertial guidance system; themeasurement of thermal environment and acceleration forcesin the payload area; determining satisfactory performanceof the telemetry system; evaluating beacon tracking perform-ance and the study of skin temperatures on both stages.8. The two RL-lO engines will be put through theirstart cycle" during the coast phase after staging. Thecycle will be completed except that the engines will notbe ignited at that point. After other objectives havebeen met and the vehicle has been reoriented to a reentryposition, the engine's start cycle will be repeated initiatinga short burning period.

FLIGHT SEQUENCEThe first stage portion of the Centaur flight is verysimilar to that of a normal Atlas rocket. The booster's

three main engines and two verniers will be ignited on thepad and the rocket will be released following a brief' hold-down in which the proper burning condition is reached bythe booster powerplant. After about 15 seconds of flight,the tilting of the vehicle will begin.The booster powerplant operates for more than two minutes,then the two main engines are dropped. The sustainer enginecontinues to provide thrust and the first stage power endsafter about 42 minutes. About midway in this period, thefour insulating panels surrounding the upper stage hydrogentank will be jettisoned. The insulation serves to keepliquid hydrogen boiloff at an acceptable level while on thepad and during the peak aerodynamic heating of ascent. Thenose cone fairing, which would protect a payload from aero-dynamic heating, is jettisoned about a minute before seperationof stages.

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Approximately at the time of Atlas sustainer cutoff--about 42 minutes--the second stare enng:lnes will enter astart cycle. The cycle will be conplcted, except foractual ignition.

Shortly after separation of the two stages, the secondstage orientation to the sun will begin. This occurs aboutfive minutes after liftoff. The engine end of the stage willbe so oriented that the sun will snine directly on it, sparingthe now uninsulated hydrogen tank sidewalls from the sunradiation which would evaporate the hydrogen fuel at anunacceptably fast rate.

About six minutes later, or 11 minutes after liftoff.the second stage will begin reorienting to the properattitude for the firing of the engines and reentry.The engine start cycle will again be repeated, with

ignition occurring at about 13 minutes after liftoff. Atthis point the vehicle will be descending to earth at about140 miles altitude. The two engines are programmed to burnfor about 25 seconds. The vehcile will impact about 15minutes after liftoff in the Sargasso Sea.

INSTRUMENTATIONOf the 540 channels of data to be radioed from the -

Centaur, 400 are devoted to the upper stage. The 140booster measurements are primarily to record the normalfunctions of engines and guidance system, plus standardvibration, bending and temperature measurements.

A majority of the instrumentation in the top stage willgather data on engine sequencing, autopilot operation andthe reaction of a partial tank of hydrogen without theinfluence of gravity.

There are two outstanding features of upper stageinstrumentation, a so-called "Christmas tree' which isinstalled in the hydrogen tank, and a television cameramounted at the top of the tank to monitor hydrogenreaction.The "tree" is a metal skeleton extending the lengthof the tank to which many sensors are attached which willindicate the movements of the fuel. Each limb is equippedwith sensors which will detect the presence of liquidhydrogen.The fuel tank will carry only 40 per cent of its normalvolume. A steel ballast plate is mounted in the forward endto compensate in weight for the fuel shortage. )

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The small, cylindrical TV camera is mounted in thecenter of the forward hydrogen tank bulkhead. It willtake a picture every trio seconds. The resulting signalwill be transmitted to ground stations, recorded on tapeand reconverted to television pictures. A kinescope willdisplay the reconverted pictures for recording by a motionpicture camera to allow a more thorough study of the tank'sinterior.

Providing light for the camera will be a 100,000 wattstrobe-light, which is activated a fraction of a second foreaca exposure and thus uses a minute amount of electricity.

This is thought to be the first use of television forobservation of an internal function in a rocket.1-5

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CENTAUR BACKGROUND AND VEHICLE FACT SHEETThe Centaur project was initiated in late 1958 by theAdvanced Research Projects Agency of the Department ofDefense. On July 1, 1959, the program was transferred tothe National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Oneyear later, NASA technical direction of the project wasassigned to the Marshall Space Flight Center.Centaur's first assigned mission was one of the mostdifficult missions--insertion of an active communications

satellite into an equatorial, stationary or 24-hour orbitat an altitute of 22,300 miles. This required a capabilityfor long coast periods and multiple starts. As a result,Centaur is a versatile vehicle capable of performing manydifficult space assignments.The upper stage will have the capability of two enginestarts and the ability to coast in a parking orbit betweenfirst and second burns.At present, research and development flights are scheduledfor Centaur extending through 1963. Later flights will launcha variety of spacecraft--the Department of Defense's Adventcommunications satellite and NASA's Mariner interplanetary(> probes and Surveyor lunar-soft landing craft.Centaur will place some 8,500 pounds into a low earthorbit, send some 2,300 pounds on an escape trajectory totr. moon, or about 1,300 pounds to Venus and Mars.The vehicle stands about 105 feet, is ten feet indiameter, and weighs about 300,000 pounds at liftoff.

FIRST STAGEThe Centaur first stage is a standard Series D Atlasspace booster similar to that used for Mercury and Agenaprojects, except that the pointed nose has been eliminated,To accommodate the second stage, the forwarc, conical sectionof the liquid oxygen tank has been enlarged to a constant10-foot diameter. A new 10-foot diameter interstage adapterand separation system have been added.Two booster engines and one sustainer engine arepowered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The engines areproduced by the Rocketdyne Division of North American

Aviation.2-1 (OVER)

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Irn auu ttin t th r ia.J enlgi e3s, ws1 sv.a i vr:'rv r;T)rovide coArL. A t'-.tai t' ,bout 367,000 uounua z, !";t,is acliA veu by uhe flrt; .-t.age.Atl-as eq'i pm-r-t. ari.- ,ncf2Cecai jr cnh2.,Q:- ifelectrOnLc systefris, ar.c Jo trn e nte. est of '.leighTr rc u' ;. in,Lhe standard Atias r'aidi guioarnce i.-;, irat. d--- c mo.,new gulidance systerr being 1,rrJ:' tflC seconct .'.gt-The stage is approximac 4y 60 f'eec in heighnt, r; tjhichis aaded tLhe 23-foot Jntersvage aciapuer ormea of .ilu, .Fuieled, the urnit weighs some 260,000 pcunds.

SECOI!D STAGEThe second stage of tl;ht Cnrtaur is about 412 e nfnlength and 10 feet In d ameter. Tne weight of' the -- gfueled, is about $2,000 povndsn, plus s;-veral riuncredpounds of' irnsulationr which i .etzisoned early in fiighz .T.he forward tank, much thc b-.gger of the two, can h:,; o; 'ut4,800 pounds of hydrogen.Tne basic constr1uc . ' 'ri tine upper tUge is miucn .;-ikthat of the Atlas--80 per crnu of tne Atlas tooinrig waas usedIn this program. Most of' the ' nrew" elements in the develOp-ment orogram relate to the pioneering use of hydrogen f'uel.A rapid 1oss co hydrogen by boiloff' requires insuatl.unof the hydrogen tank through launch preparations anrd the earlyphase of' the ascent where aerodynamic heating is at4 its peak.This Is accomplished by four quarter panelP of inrsulationrwhich surround the upper stage from the nose cone fei.rring Lto the inLerstage separation poont. The panel.s are st,tof an inch thicic, consisVing of two fiberglass faces ene DS-ing a foam in which fiberglass is embedded. The oarneli areheld in place by spring-loaded tenuion straps and :- cvcuredby explosive bolts which are blown by programmer conrmarndslightly after the midpoint of first stage powered f'light--just before the vehicle leaves the atmosphere. The pane.l-s,restr-ained at their bottom edges, fold ov.u into the afr-stream from their forward ends and are peeled awiay.A nose fa: ring wlil protect against aerodynamic heatingduring early phases of the ascent and control the teat trans-fer between the nose secticn and che super-cold hydroger. fuel.Mounted on -he forward hydrogen buikhead beneath th-t f CaJr-Ingwill be the payload guidance and electronic packages.The fairing consists of two half sections and a cap.Tt stands 18 feet high and has a 10-foot ciameter at thebase where it loins the body (if thE upper srtage. Totalweight is 750 pounds. It must withstand pressure up ccnearly 1,000 pounds per square foot, and -emperat-ures unto 1,200 degrees F, WThen, about three niT.rnvces af'er 1 @toL'f,the signal is gitven to jettison the ccre, explosive bo;.tz-release the halves and two mZmall nitrogen bot-Ller, f'crc?: th&!away from the vehicle. P-2


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A major insulation problem is the common bulkheadbetween the hydrogen tank (-423 degrees F) and the rela-tively "hot" liquid oxygen tank (-297 degrees F). Thisis formed of two very thin steel bulkheads one quarterof an inch apart. The space between is filled withiatted fiberglass.Hydrogen boiloff during the extended coast periods iscontrolled by keeping the second stage's tail pointed directlytoward the sun, thus avoiding the exposure of the hydrogen

tank to the sun's rays. The liquid oxygen tank bulkhead towhich the engines are affixed has a fiberglass radiationshielf.During coast phases, the engine end is oriented to thesun through the use of sun seekers, attached to the aftoxygen tank bulkhead, and an attitude control system whichemploys six small hydrogen-peroxide control rockets to movethe vehicle to the proper position with respect to the sun,once the sensors have detected the sun's location.The second stage also has four larger hydrogen peroxide

rockets, each developing 50 pounds of thrust, which, firedjust before ignition of tne main engines, provide accelera-, tion to concentrate the floating fuel at the base of tankageM for engine intake purposes. In addICtion to conservinghydrogen, the sun-orientation of the stage serves the purposeof keeping the engines warm during coast periods. The enginesmust be relatively warm at the beginning of the engine startsequence--the heat present causes the initial volume of liquidhydrogen circulating through the engines to convert to gase-ous hydrogen, which is used to drive the fuel and oxidizerpumps. Once the process is begun, heat from the engineoperation continues it in a so-called "bootstrap cycle."

GUIDANCECentaur is controlled in flight by an all-inertial(self-contained) guidance system. It was designed toaccomplish the difficult mission of establishing a 24-hourir stationary equatorial orbit. It -ill be able to performa number of less demanding missions with little or noalteration.The inertial guidance system consists primarily of afour-gimbal platform stabilized by three gyros, plus ageneral purpose digital computer.The computer is a box 8 inches by 13 inches whichweighs 62 pounds. It has a membry drum with a 2,560-C word capacity. It can handle 3,000 additions, 1,600subtractions, 228 divisions or 236 multiplications persecond.

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The :System. , l~t2;Ct^~stz: i- jJt*bi..;on,- ar...........................putin *icata on p),sion, V t-y enuace. +-c.ari n,, amcomparting thea? data wfl h pxr-ca.tculatt mi .l-i.n r .qui rb>ml i'Chan~ges in vehl,1t_. aftv~: nu ^-'. C'L.;Gx;rtrgav.;i by it~niavitopilot which gimbal ' fh- I--ngi.nrc. lih,,- au. to-*Athea ehicnI vrti.l zautavir.der et Iernn ma.tcbyfAft';*r firs~t s,>age scoararion, zI-: i ;- 'i)ir' l.'Orfor soconO st>age flight control. It tcccpt~3igna L fr'm 'hcguidance sytewm ano Init1atet such iwv;rntl- al Fngin.r ~i.: &fn

payload separation, although the latt'vrr io,-is not Jcclir in t>first test-0 1Durinz coast perlod:l thi uidancl sy tesrm 's .orff; except for a timer.N.

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THE RL-10 ENGINE AND LIQUID HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGYThe RL-10 engine, two of which are used to power thesecond stage of the Centaur launch vehicle, employs liquidhydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellants. It is the firstsuch high-energy engine developed in the U. S. for spacevehicle application.This first flight test of the engine, which develops15,000 pounds of thrust, follows a three-year period in which

the engine was designed, developed and successfully testedhundreds of times by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division ofUnited Aircraft Corp. at West Palm Beach, Florida.The RL-10 is being developed for the NASA Centaur andSaturn vehicles under the technical supervision of theNASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.In the Saturn program, six engines provide propulsion forthe second stage of the Saturn C-1 vehicle.An entirely new technology has evolved in the develop-ment of hydrogen engines. Liquid hydrogen in its natural

form is a gas--it liquefies when cooled to minus 423 degrees F.Its atom is the lightest known.Hydrogen-oxygen rocket engines provide a specific impulsemore than 40 per cent higher than engines using conventionalfuels. Specific impulses is the measure of an engine'seffiotency in producing thrust--the amount of thrust inpounds per pound of fuel consumed per second.Although liquid hydrogen requires increased tank volumebecause of its lightness, its performance has brought thefuel into prominence as a space vehicle propellant.Less than seven months from the beginning date of theRL-lO contract in 1958, the Pratt & Whitney testing facilityfor the RL-10 was operational and the first engine thrustchamber was actually tested. The RL-10 engine has now beentested more than 700 times for an accumulated firing timein excess of 60,000 seconds.Outwardly, the RL-10 resembles other rocket engines.Internally, the engine contains many advances in the stateof the art in engine design, among them the method by whichit obtains multiple utilization from its fuel. Most rocket

engine designs require gas generators burning propellantsto drive the pumps which move the main body oz propellantsto the thrust chamber. The RL-10 eliminates this cycle.This is how the RL-10 works--3-1 (OVER)


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The liquid hydrogen enters the cooling jacket surroundingsthe thrust chamber at -423 0F. The hydrogen burning with oxygerlIinside the chamber is at 60000 F. The hydrogen in the jacketcools the engine while it itself becomes sufficiently heatedto convert to a gas, the temperature of which is still morethan 100 degrees below zero. This hydrogen is then expandedin a turbine which furnishes power to pump more liquid hydro-gen into the combustion chamber. The turbine also furnishespower to pump the liquid oxygen. Thus the cold hydrogen playstwo roles before it is burned. It cools the thrust chamberand drives the pumps in a so-called "boot strap" system. Itis burned only in the thrust chamber where it produces usefulthrust.

The engine was designed to provide a capability of restartsin space, with long coast periods between firings. The problemsassociated with maintaining a conventional lubrication systemunder conditions of coasting made it desirable to eliminateoil lubrication in the gearbox. The gears and bearings Inthe turbopurps of the RL-lO were developed to operate drywith hydrogen cooling.

The RL-l0 has a nozzle expansion ratio of '40 to one--meaning the area at the exhaust end of the thrust chamber is40 times as large as the engineds throat. It operates at anominal chamber pressure of 300 pounds per square inch.HYDROGEN BACKGROUND

The development of the RL-1O rocket engine was based uponthe mastery of a powerful but temperamental fuel, hydrogen.The Swiss scientist Paracelsue identified the elementin the 16th century and the French genius Antoine Lavoisierin the 18th century gave it a name--hydrogen, from the Greek,

meaning "water forming."Konstantir Tsiolkovsky, the Russian theoretical pioneerof space projects, foresaw the use of hydrogen fuel in the19th century and Dr. Robert Goddard selected this fuel asthe most promising rocket fuel. But as recently as 1950hydrogen as a rocket propellant remained a laboratorycuriosity.At the advent of ih.c space age, scientists recognizedthat no chemical fuel substance equaled the energy outputof hydrogen.If hydrogen could be leashed for use in rocket engines,the accomplishment would make possible substantial payloadincreases in upper stages of space vehicles, scientists knew.

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But hydrogen was a tricky fiuel. Br'crv%;e of .1its, 1o-boi 1 ng point (-423 0 F) It i: hnrd to lv-Tp .In li. ju 1ci form.LIquid hydrogen I., co]or.Ine-s, ororl'-.s nnd oc v:'ry 1 ightweiglht, only one-f'ourtcenth as. heavy a., water.New techniques had to be n.;tabl:i shed before hydrogencould become a practical. fuel.The experience of Pratt & Whitney, dating back to 195'5,

helped pro~;3 that liquid hydrogen can be transported andstored practicably and that, in many ways, the siiper-.coldliquid Is less dangerous than gn.-olinc. Other companien Shave also done pioneering .rork with the frigid Cluid.So long as ignition In avoided, liquid hydrogen ischemically inert :In the presence of common materials,ncluding air, oil and oxygen. It is non-toxic, non-irritating and non-corrosive. It does not deteriorateor decompose from long-timc storage.The fuel. is stored in de*rar tanlcs, which are double-

walled containers with a vacuilm between the walls, s.milarto a thermos bottle. Portable dewar tanks follow the samepattern of construction. T'oda, it Is possible to keepliquid hydrogen just as "ready' as liquid oxygen wrlth ]I tt)e*loss due to evaporation.Large-scale tenting of liquid hydrogen fuel becameposslble In 1956, with the opcning of the Pratt & WhitneyFlorida Reoearch and Developmcnt Center In W.ecst Palm Bcach.Adjacent to the plant, the A:ir Force built the first tonnageproduction facility for liquid hydrogen. It is operated byAir Products and Chemicals Inc.The facility takes crude oil and natural. gas, breaks itdown into hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide and other products.and then refrigerates and purifies the hydrogen. The purityof the liquid hydrogen produced there is thought to be about99.99999 per cent, among the purest materials knowrn to man.More powerful liquid hydrogen rocket engines will bebuilt as the space program progresses. For instance, NASAis having developed at Rocketdyne Divioion of North AmericanAviation a new hydrogen engine, the 200,000 pound thrust J-2,which will be used in advanced Saturn upper stages. And NASA

is negotiating a contract with Aerojet-General Corporatio.n todevelop a 1.2 million pound thrust hydrogen engine kno:wn asthe M-1.() As space missions develop, requiring higher powerperformance than that attainable with hydrogen combustion,

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nitclear rockc t r)lrom1:;ij Cm .r 1 1valve, nI ill thi: Li Li2.i (I1p1I yd l)rogn 0Ufoi'. a e Ic1Nc ." :;I'p (:"ce (dro; thlesoi' any other 'rorkLngv tlULiIn the simple nucleor rocket deig;-ns now envi;Tioricrlthe reactor will serve merely to r'al-e the temnuratiire ofthe hydrogen and expel. it through tho nozzvl. At probablereactor operating temperatures, the ;specific impulse of-nuclear rockets using hydrogen as expelled gas can beexpected to be thrice that of the be;t chemical systems.Hydrogen may give an additional bonus in space probes-that require landing on and returning from a distant planet.The vehicle weight could be reduced considerably if thevehicle could be refueled at its destination. Since watermay exist on some of the other planets, scIentists speculatethat hydrogen could be extracted at the destination, usingpower from the rocket's nuclear reactor.This planetary "gas station" would lead to enormoussavings in vehicle weight or corresponding increases inpayload capability.

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PARTWTCPANT', Aii) F'1AC I IJTT'rE

Centaur is a progrrar of the lqational Aeronautics andSpace Administration. At NASA Jleadquartcrs. Centaur isdirected by the Office of Space Sciences, headed byDr. Homer E. Newell, whose deputy is Edgar M. Cortright.Colonel Donald Heaton is director of launch vehicles andpropulsion. Commander Wi]liam Schubert is chief of theCentaur vehicle program.Technical direction of the program is provided byNASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville,

Alabama, Dr. Wernher von Braun, director. MSFC's Lightand Medium Vehicles Office is headed by Hans Hueter whoalso is acting as Centaur project manager.The Centaur launch will be directed by the NASALaunch Operations Center, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Dr. KurtH. Debus is LOC director and the chief of the Light/MediumVehicle Systems Office is Ed Matthews.Prime contractor for Centaur is General Dynamics/Astronautics, San Diego, California. Vice president ofGD/A and Centaur program director is Grant L. Hansen and

K. W. Jeremiah is deputy program director. Special con-sultant for Centaur is Krafft A. Ehricke who originatedthe Centaur concept and who is now director of advancedstudies for GD/A.GD/A designed and assembled the Centaur at itsfacilities in San Di.ego. Wlith the exception of someengine testing, GD/A tests most systems and componentsat its facilities in the San Diego area--Point LToma.Sycamore Canyon and at the main plant on Kearny Mesa.At Point Loma, testing Ancludez liquid hydrogen trans-fer, simulated propellant loading and tests of the secondstage dynamic characterlstics. Components, subsystems andsystems are subjected to environmental testing at GD/A'smain plant including vibrations, acceleration, temperatureextremes, and humidity.At the Sycamore Canyon facility. Ctentaur main enginescan be fired in a near-vacuum atmosphere simulating the spaceenvironment.GD/A also is prime contractor on the booster stage--amodified Atlas D--conceived and developed by the U. S. AirForce.The RL-lO engines were designed, built, and tested bythe Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Division of United AircraftCorp. at its West Palm Beach, Florida, Research and Develop-ment Center. Its general manager is W. L. Gorton. R. J. Coaris chief engineer. Bruce Torell is RL-lO program manager,and R. C. Mulready is assistant program manager.

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The P'esco Products DTviL.lon of Borg Warner Corp. bui]tthe boost pump; which are used to Supply propellant to theengines. Liquid hydrogen used in testing and flight opera-tions Is supplied by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.The three engines which power the first stage Atlaswere built and tested by Rocketdync division of NorthAmerican Aviation, Inc., Canoga Park, Callfornia.Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company designed theinertial guidance system and built the system's stabilizedplatform. The guidance computer was provided by Librascope.Bell Aerospace Corp. furnished the upper stage hydrogenperoxide attitude control system.The second stage insulation panels were provided bythe H. I. Thompson Company, while General Dynamics/Ft. Worthbuilt the nose fairing.Under direction of the NASA Launch Operations Center,Centaur will be launched from Complex 36 at Cape Canaveralby a General Dynamics/Astronautic3 launch team. The complex--being used for the first time--was built under direction ofthe Jacksonville District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineersfollowing a GD/A design.The service structure standing 173 feet high rolls onheavy double rails over the launch pedestal. Located 800feet from the launch pad is the t;wno-story blockhouse withconcrete walls and dome roof ranging from six to 15 feetin thickness topped by up to ten feet of carthfill. Allnecessary equipment for controlling and monitoring thevehicle's preparation and flight are contained in thestructure including closed circuit television to permitthe crew to observe pad operations and vehicle flight.

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atlas centaur ac-1 press kit

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