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Atlas Centaur

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Atlas LV Atlas LV-3C s/n AC-3 / Centaur D s/n 135D - 1964-06-30

AKA: LV-3C. Status: Retired 1965. First Launch: 1962-05-08. Last Launch: 1965-03-02. Number: 5 . Payload: 1,700 kg (3,700 lb). Thrust: 1,704.82 kN (383,259 lbf). Gross mass: 136,124 kg (300,102 lb). Height: 33.00 m (108.00 ft). Diameter: 3.05 m (10.00 ft).

LEO Payload: 3,630 kg (8,000 lb) to a 185 km orbit. Payload: 2,255 kg (4,971 lb) to a GTO. Launch Price $: 70.300 million in 1994 dollars.

Family: orbital launch vehicle. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Surveyor. Launch Sites: Cape Canaveral, Cape Canaveral LC36A. Stages: Centaur C, Atlas MA-2, Atlas D stage. Agency: Convair. More at: 8164.

• Research and development test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 6.00 km (3.70 mi).

  The first attempt to launch an Atlas/Centaur from the Atlantic Missile Range was unsuccessful when the Centaur stage blew up at T+55 seconds due to a second stage structural failure. Despite this failure, the launch marked the first U.S. use of a space vehicle fueled by a liquid hydrogen engine. First Centaur flight (unsuccessful).

• Atlas Centaur 2 - . Payload: Centaur 2B. Mass: 4,620 kg (10,180 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA Cleveland. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft Bus: Surveyor. Spacecraft: Surveyor. USAF Sat Cat: 694 . COSPAR: 1963-047A. Apogee: 1,478 km (918 mi). Perigee: 469 km (291 mi). Inclination: 30.4000 deg. Period: 104.60 min.

  Launched from Cape Canaveral, Atlas/Centaur (AC-2) was the first successful use of the high-energy liquid hydrogen/ liquid oxygen Centaur upper stage vehicle developed for NASA by General Dynamics. The spent Centaur stage entered orbit. Launch vehicle test. Launch vehicle put dummy payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit. First successful Centaur (liquid hydrogen-fueled) flight.

• Centaur AC-3 - . Payload: Centaur 1C. Mass: 4,815 kg (10,615 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Decay Date: 1964-06-30 . Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Centaur test. Launch vehicle was to have put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

• Surveyor SD-1 - . Payload: Surveyor SD-1. Mass: 2,944 kg (6,490 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: JPL, NASA. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft Bus: Surveyor. Spacecraft: Surveyor. Decay Date: 1964-12-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 951 . COSPAR: 1964-082A. Apogee: 178 km (110 mi). Perigee: 165 km (102 mi). Inclination: 30.7000 deg. Period: 87.80 min. Launch vehicle test. Centaur AC-4 put dummy Surveyor payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

• Surveyor SD-1 - . Payload: Surveyor SD-1. Mass: 951 kg (2,096 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Spacecraft Bus: Surveyor. Spacecraft: Surveyor. Decay Date: 1965-03-02 . Launch vehicle test. Launch vehicle was to have put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit.