Скачать или смотреть AC-1 Failure - First Atlas-Centaur launch (1962/05/08) -

Launch footage of the first Atlas-Centaur, culminating with an explosion at T+53 seconds, followed by the wreckage falling into the ocean.

Original film is silent. Background sound was recreated and narration added to provide context.

Most of the footage comes from Koyaanisqatsi (movie by Godfrey Reggio), with segments from SDASM :    • HACL 02512  AC-1 Atlas Centaur launch...  ,    • HACL 02693 Atlas Centaur AC-1 day lau...  ,    • HACL 02513  AC-1 Atlas Centaur launch...   and documentaries.

Research, editing and restoration and color correction by RetroSpace HD.

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The Atlas-Centaur was a US expendable launch vehicle derived from the SM-65 Atlas D missile. Launches were conducted from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

In October 1961, the first Atlas-Centaur (Vehicle Flight-1: Atlas 104D and Centaur F-1) arrived at Cape Canaveral and was erected at the newly completed and specifically built LC-36A. Technical problems caused the vehicle to sit on the launch pad for seven months, the most serious being leakage of liquid hydrogen through the intermediate bulkhead separating the propellant tanks combined with numerous lesser maladies with the guidance and propulsion systems.

The vehicle was launched on 8 May 1962, with the intention of performing a single burn with a partially fueled Centaur. At T+53 seconds, the Centaur stage ruptured and disintegrated, taking the Atlas with it in a matter of seconds.

It was unclear what had caused the failure at first, as tracking camera footage merely showed a large white cloud enveloping the booster followed by the explosion of the entire launch vehicle. Initial assumptions were that Atlas had suffered a LOX tank failure, either from a pressurization problem, rupture of the tank from flying debris, or structural bending/aerodynamic issues caused by the unproven Atlas-Centaur combination, and indeed there had been several previous occurrences of these failure modes on Atlas launches. Scott Carpenter's Mercury flight was only days away, and if the failure were caused by the Atlas, it could mean significant delays for that mission, which used a similar Atlas D derived Atlas LV-3B booster. However, analysis of telemetry data and closer examination of the launch films quickly confirmed the Centaur as the source of trouble.

The failure was determined to be caused by an insulation panel that ripped off the Centaur during ascent, resulting in a surge in tank pressure when the LH2 overheated. The pneumatic system responded by venting propellant to reduce pressure levels, but eventually, they exceeded the LH2 tank's structural strength. It then ruptured, causing flying debris to also rupture the Atlas's LOX tank, followed by complete destruction of the launch vehicle. The panel had been meant to jettison at 80 km up when the air was thinner, but the mechanism holding it in place was designed inadequately, leading to premature separation. The insulation panels had already been suspected during Centaur development of being a potential problem area, and the possibility of an LH2 tank rupture was considered as a failure scenario. Testing was suspended while efforts were made to correct the Centaur's design flaws.

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#Atlas-Centaur #atlasrocket #rocket