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43-551: Part of the Titan rocket family , the Titan 23B space launch vehicle was a three-stage liquid fueled booster, designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It was able to lift approximately 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) into a polar low-Earth circular orbit. The first stage consisted of a ground ignited Aerojet LR-87 liquid propellant rocket , while the second stage consisted of an LR91 liquid propellant rocket. The third stage

86-709: A Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) weather satellite on 18 October 2003. The Titan III was a modified Titan II with optional solid rocket boosters . It was developed on behalf of the United States Air Force (USAF) as a heavy-lift satellite launcher to be used mainly to launch American military payloads and civilian intelligence agency satellites such as the Vela Hotel nuclear-test-ban monitoring satellites, observation and reconnaissance satellites (for intelligence-gathering), and various series of defense communications satellites. As USAF project, Titan III

129-605: A Delco Carousel VB IMU and MAGIC 352 Missile Guidance Computer (MGC). The Titan IIIA was a prototype rocket booster and consisted of a standard Titan II rocket with a Transtage upper stage. The Titan IIIB with its different versions (23B, 24B, 33B, and 34B) had the Titan III core booster with an Agena D upper stage. This combination was used to launch the KH-8 GAMBIT series of intelligence-gathering satellites. They were all launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, due south over

172-545: A crater 250 feet (76 m) in diameter. The 54 Titan IIs in Arizona, Arkansas, and Kansas were replaced by 50 MX "Peacekeeper" solid-fuel rocket missiles in the mid-1980s; the last Titan II silo was deactivated in May 1987. The 54 Titan IIs had been fielded along with a thousand Minuteman missiles from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. A number of Titan I and Titan II missiles have been distributed as museum displays across

215-477: A Titan 33B failed to achieve orbit carrying a Jumpseat satellite. Another failure occurred later the same year, when on 20 May a Titan 24B malfunctioned during the launch of KH-8 #35. The Agena suffered a failure of a pneumatic regulator during ascent and reentered the atmosphere. Although it had been assumed debris would land near South Africa, pieces turned up in faraway Great Britain a few months later. The launch of KH-8 #39 on 26 June 1973 also failed to orbit when

258-515: A backup ICBM project in case the SM-65 Atlas was delayed. It was a two-stage rocket operational from early 1962 to mid-1965 whose LR-87 booster engine was powered by RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX). The ground guidance for the Titan was the UNIVAC ATHENA computer , designed by Seymour Cray , based in a hardened underground bunker. Using radar data, it made course corrections during

301-581: A further consideration. Lockheed Martin decided to extend its Atlas family of rockets instead of its more expensive Titans, along with participating in joint-ventures to sell launches on the Russian Proton rocket and the new Boeing -built Delta IV class of medium and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The Titan IVB was the last Titan rocket to remain in service, making its penultimate launch from Cape Canaveral on 30 April 2005, followed by its final launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 19 October 2005, carrying

344-515: A location often used for launch into non-polar orbits. The Titan V was a proposed development of the Titan IV, that saw several designs being suggested. One Titan V proposal was for an enlarged Titan IV, capable of lifting up to 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) of payload. Another used a cryogenic first stage with LOX/LH2 propellants; however the Atlas V EELV was selected for production instead. Most of

387-530: A silo outside Rock, Kansas , an oxidizer transfer line carrying NTO ruptured on August 24, 1978. An ensuing orange vapor cloud forced 200 rural residents to evacuate the area. A staff sergeant of the maintenance crew was killed while attempting a rescue and a total of twenty were hospitalized. Another site at Potwin, Kansas leaked NTO oxidizer in April 1980 with no fatalities, and was later closed. In September 1980, at Titan II silo 374-7 near Damascus, Arkansas ,

430-402: A technician dropped an 8 lb (3.6 kg) socket that fell 70 ft (21 m), bounced off a thrust mount, and broke the skin of the missile's first stage, over eight hours prior to an eventual explosion . The puncture occurred about 6:30 p.m. and when a leak was detected shortly after, the silo was flooded with water and civilian authorities were advised to evacuate the area. As

473-623: Is speculative. It is believed that six Jumpseat satellites were successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Titan IIIB launch vehicles with Agena D boosters between 21 March 1971 and 31 July 1983, the primary purpose of them being to monitor Soviet ABM radars. There was one failure, when the second satellite's Agena malfunctioned and left it in a useless orbit. The 700-kg Jumpseat satellites were manufactured by Hughes Aircraft and were inserted into highly elliptical Molniya orbits with an inclination of 63 degrees and orbital periods of close to 12 hours. These were in similar orbits to

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516-693: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory at MIT. The missile guidance computer (MGC) was the IBM ASC-15 . When spares for this system became hard to obtain, it was replaced by a more modern guidance system, the Delco Electronics Universal Space Guidance System (USGS). The USGS used a Carousel IV IMU and a Magic 352 computer. The USGS was already in use on the Titan III space launcher when work began in March 1978 to replace

559-473: The LR-87 , that used a hypergolic propellant combination of nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) for its oxidizer and Aerozine 50 (a 50/50 mix of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) instead of the liquid oxygen and RP-1 propellant of the Titan I. The first Titan II guidance system was built by AC Spark Plug . It used an inertial measurement unit made by AC Spark Plug derived from original designs from

602-491: The Titan-IIIA , but added an Agena D upper stage. Twenty-two flights took place from SLC-4W at Vandenberg AFB between 1966 and 1969, all launching KH-8 satellites. Configuration: Titan 23B used the basic Titan-IIIA core (with an updated first and second stage engines) with an Agena D upper stage, though without the all-inertial guidance system, malfunction detection equipment, and redundant systems required for man-rating

645-685: The 3A. The Titan 23B was launched from SLC-4W at Vandenberg AFB . Its main payload was the GAMBIT ( KH-8 reconnaissance) satellites, in nine flights from 1969 through 1971. Configuration: The Titan 24B differed from the Titan 23B in that the Titan IIIM core with extended propellant tanks was used in place of the original Titan II core. The payload remained attached to the Agena stage. Twenty-three flights took place from SLC-4W at Vandenberg AFB between 1971 and 1984, with two failures. Configuration: The Titan 33B

688-515: The Agena had a fuel valve failure, preventing engine start. A launch of a Jumpseat satellite on 24 April 1981 was a partial failure when the Agena failed to separate. Titan (rocket family) Titan was a family of United States expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. The Titan I and Titan II were part of the US Air Force 's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fleet until 1987. The space launch vehicle versions contributed

731-608: The Pacific into polar orbits . Their maximum payload mass was about 7,500 lb (3,000 kg). The powerful Titan IIIC used a Titan III core rocket with two large strap-on solid-fuel boosters to increase its launch thrust and maximum payload mass. The solid-fuel boosters that were developed for the Titan IIIC represented a significant engineering advance over previous solid-fueled rockets, due to their large size and thrust, and their advanced thrust-vector control systems. The Titan IIID

774-524: The Titan II guidance system. The main reason was to reduce the cost of maintenance by $ 72 million per year; the conversions were completed in 1981. Liquid oxygen is dangerous to use in an enclosed space, such as a missile silo , and cannot be stored for long periods in the booster oxidizer tank. Several Atlas and Titan I rockets exploded and destroyed their silos, although without loss of life. The Martin Company

817-504: The Titan IIIB's existence, as well as its primary payload, the booster was also used for Jumpseat SIGINT satellites and military comsats. It also lived up to its promise of greater reliability than the Thor and Atlas, with only a few failures over its run. Primary function: Launch vehicle used to lift medium class satellites into space: Titan-3B Agena-D used the same core and second stage as

860-416: The Titan vehicles. The next launch, on 20 June 1967 was a partial failure; due to a problem with the protective skirt on the second stage, a lower-than-planned orbit was achieved. On 24 October 1969 OPS 8455 was placed into a higher-than-planned orbit by another 23B due to an engine failing to cut off after completing its planned burn, however the payload was able to correct its own orbit. On 16 February 1972,

903-594: The USA-186 optical imaging satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. Jumpseat (satellite) Jumpseat , also known as AFP-711 is reportedly a code name for a class of SIGINT reconnaissance satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office for the United States Air Force in the 1970s and 1980s. The program is classified, and much of the information in the open

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946-645: The United States Department of Defense (DOD). Derived from the Titan 34D and originally proposed as a medium-lift expendable launch system for the US Air Force, who selected the Delta II instead. Development was continued as a commercial launch system, and the first rocket flew in 1990. The Commercial Titan III differed from the Titan 34D in that it had a stretched second stage, and a larger payload fairing to accommodate dual satellite payloads. The Titan IIIM

989-662: The United States. The most famous use of the civilian Titan II was in the NASA Gemini program of crewed space capsules in the mid-1960s. Twelve Titan II GLVs were used to launch two U.S. uncrewed Gemini test launches and ten crewed capsules with two-person crews. All of the launches were successful. Starting in the late 1980s, some of the deactivated Titan IIs were converted into space launch vehicles to be used for launching U.S. Government payloads. Titan 23G rockets consisted of two stages burning liquid propellant . The first stage

1032-579: The burn phase. Unlike decommissioned Thor, Atlas, and Titan II missiles, the Titan I inventory was scrapped and never reused for space launches or RV tests, as all support infrastructure for the missile had been converted to the Titan II/III family by 1965. Most of the Titan rockets were the Titan II ICBM and their civilian derivatives for NASA . The Titan II used the LR-87-5 engine, a modified version of

1075-409: The decommissioned Titan II ICBMs were refurbished and used for Air Force space launch vehicles, with a perfect launch success record. For orbital launches, there were strong advantages to using higher-performance liquid hydrogen or RP-1 fueled vehicles with liquid oxygen ; the high cost of using hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, along with the special care that was needed due to their toxicity, were

1118-588: The internal disintegration of the Soviet Union . As a result of these events and improvements in technology, the unit cost of a Titan IV launch was very high. Additional expenses were generated by the ground operations and facilities for the Titan IV at Vandenberg Air Force Base for launching satellites into polar orbits. Titan IVs were also launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida,

1161-554: The launch of a Gambit 3 satellite when the second stage suffered a sudden thrust decay which left it unable to achieve orbital velocity, sending the Agena and GAMBIT into the Pacific Ocean some 400 miles (644 km) downrange. It was not possible to determine the cause of the malfunction with certainty, but a fuel line obstruction was believed to be the most likely explanation. Martin-Marietta had no answers except to suggest implementing better quality control measures during assembly of

1204-585: The majority of the 368 Titan launches, including all the Project Gemini crewed flights of the mid-1960s. Titan vehicles were also used to lift US military payloads as well as civilian agency reconnaissance satellites and to send interplanetary scientific probes throughout the Solar System. The HGM-25A Titan I, built by the Martin Company , was the first version of the Titan family of rockets. It began as

1247-497: The most powerful uncrewed rocket available to the United States, with proportionally high manufacturing and operations expenses. By the time the Titan IV became operational, the requirements of the Department of Defense and the NRO for launching satellites had tapered off due to improvements in the longevity of reconnaissance satellites and the declining demand for reconnaissance that followed

1290-410: The problem was being attended to at around 3 a.m., leaking rocket fuel ignited and blew the 8,000 lb (3,630 kg) nuclear warhead out of the silo. It landed harmlessly several hundred feet away. There was one fatality and 21 were injured, all from the emergency response team from Little Rock AFB . The explosion blew the 740-ton launch tube cover 200 ft (60 m) into the air and left

1333-644: The two Viking missions to place two orbiters around Mars and two instrumented landers on its surface. The Titan 34D featured Stage 1 and Stage 2 stretched with more powerful UA1206 solid motors. A variety of upper stages were available, including the Inertial Upper Stage , the Transfer Orbit Stage , and the Transtage . The Titan 34D made its maiden flight in the year of 1982 on the 30th of October with two DSCS defense communications satellites for

Titan IIIB - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-541: The vanguard of America's strategic deterrent force, were built. Titan IIs also were flown in NASA's Gemini crewed space program in the mid-1960s. The Titan 23B is a derivative of the Titan II vehicle with an Agena D upper stage added. The Titan IIIB family emerged when the new KH-8 (Gambit Mark 3) photo reconnaissance satellite was being developed as the successor to the KH-7 Gambit Mark 1/2 which began flying in 1963. It

1419-652: The years), however SRB-equipped variants had a heat shield over them as protection from the SRB exhaust and the engines were modified for air-starting. The first guidance system for the Titan III used the AC Spark Plug company IMU (inertial measurement unit) and an IBM ASC-15 guidance computer from the Titan II. For the Titan III, the ASC-15 drum memory of the computer was lengthened to add 20 more usable tracks, which increased its memory capacity by 35%. The more-advanced Titan IIIC used

1462-474: Was Aerozine 50 , a 50/50 mix of hydrazine and UDMH, and the oxidizer was NTO. There were several accidents in Titan II silos resulting in loss of life and/or serious injuries. In August 1965, 53 construction workers were killed in fire in a missile silo northwest of Searcy, Arkansas . The fire started when hydraulic fluid used in the Titan II was ignited by a welding torch. The liquid fuel missiles were prone to developing leaks of their toxic propellants. At

1505-570: Was a Titan 23B with the entire Agena and payload completely enclosed in a shroud. It flew only three times from SLC-4W at Vandenberg AFB between 1971 and 1973 with one failure, being used to launch Jumpseat satellites. Configuration: The Titan 34B was a Titan 24B, modified by the addition of the larger fairing used on the Titan 33B. Eleven flights took place from SLC-4W at Vandenberg AFB between 1975 and 1987. Configuration: Titan IIIB rockets suffered four outright failures, and two partial failures. The first failure occurred on 26 April 1967 during

1548-431: Was able to improve the design with the Titan II. The RP-1/LOX combination was replaced by a room-temperature fuel whose oxidizer did not require cryogenic storage. The same first-stage rocket engine was used with some modifications. The diameter of the second stage was increased to match the first stage. The Titan II's hypergolic fuel and oxidizer ignited on contact, but they were highly toxic and corrosive liquids. The fuel

1591-605: Was an Agena D XLR81-BA-9 liquid propellant rocket. Various models of this Titan/Agena D rocket were called, "Titan-3B Agena-D", "Titan 23B", "Titan 24B", "Titan 33B" and "Titan 34B". The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force awarded The Martin Company a contract to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It became known as the Titan I , the nation's first two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM. More than 140 Titan II ICBMs, once

1634-466: Was decided to switch to the Titan family over the Atlas used for KH-7 because it had substantially more lift capability and also its conventional two-stage design and hypergolic propellants made for a simpler and more reliable launch vehicle than the quirky Atlas. The KH-8 was double the size of its predecessor but still well below the Titan's lift capability. While the KH-8 was the original raison d'être for

1677-610: Was intended to launch the Manned Orbiting Laboratory and other payloads. Development was cancelled in 1969. The projected UA1207 solid booster rockets were eventually used on the Titan IV . The Titan IV was an extended length Titan III with solid rocket boosters on its sides. The Titan IV could be launched with a Centaur upper stage, the USAF Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), or no upper stage at all. This rocket

1720-422: Was more formally known as Program 624A ( SSLS ), Standard Space Launch System , Standardized Space Launch System , Standardized Space Launching System or Standard Space Launching System (all abbreviated SSLS ). The Titan III core was similar to the Titan II, but had a few differences. These included: The Titan III family used the same basic LR-87 engines as Titan II (with performance enhancements over

1763-511: Was powered by one Aerojet LR87 engine with two combustion chambers and nozzles, and the second stage was propelled by an LR91 . On some flights, the spacecraft included a kick motor, usually the Star-37XFP-ISS ; however, the Star-37S was also used. Thirteen were launched from Space Launch Complex 4W (SLC-4W) at Vandenberg Air Force Base starting in 1988. The final such vehicle launched

Titan IIIB - Misplaced Pages Continue

1806-535: Was the Vandenberg Air Force Base version of the Titan IIIC, without a Transtage, that was used to place members of the Key Hole series of reconnaissance satellites into polar low Earth orbits . The Titan IIIE, with a high- specific-impulse Centaur upper stage, was used to launch several scientific spacecraft, including both of NASA's two Voyager space probes to Jupiter, Saturn and beyond, and both of

1849-459: Was used almost exclusively to launch US military or Central Intelligence Agency payloads. However, it was also used for a purely scientific purpose to launch the NASA–ESA Cassini / Huygens space probe to Saturn in 1997. The primary intelligence agency that needed the Titan IV's launch capabilities was the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). When it was being produced, the Titan IV was

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