NASA Facts Launch Vehicles

8/7/2019 NASA Facts Launch Vehicles

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Vol 11No. S

I&40 :vowNASA F A C T SAn E duca t i-)nal Services Pub l icat ion of A () 51 52 5National Aer, saut ics and Sp ace A dm inistrat ion rfz^^ 4,C

LAUNCH VEHICLESWhatever space exploration or investigationor the astro-, must f i rs t be pu t in to space .

t he launch veh icleA launch vehic le i sany device th at propelso space, wh ether fore ( f rom w h ich i t fa l ls ba ck d i rec t ly to), into orbit about the P artn, or into a tra-Th e launch veh icle must apply a thrust largeh , and long enoug h , to l if t t he en t i re

which also includes the control systemyload As the fuel burns in the

r eaction in the opposit.:This is in accordance with Newtor. s third law

by the body nsite direction.

For energy, every rocket in use today burns aThe main advantage of a solid fuel is simplic-

t requires no separate tanks, injectors,ng, coaling, or comp,ex sec; je:tc-It is easy to store and handle: it

difficultyof con-ng and stopping the thrust, which cannottedly be turned on or off on command.nge , and th e i r fi ring t ime is l im i tedoreover, manufacturing them is involved and

Feels used in solid propellants are uspholts,xes, oils, plastics, metals, rubber, and resins.a.e often the common nitrates and

Th e m ain advantages o f a l iquid fuel are aSome liquid propellants canner be storedhe launch veh icle, wh ich therefore must be

Most l iquid-propel lant rocks engines no4nuse h ave a l iqu id ox id izer and a l iqu id Nei ,which are injected seporately into the com5ustionchamber. The choice of appropria t e feels willsometimes allow the mixing process to ignite theruel (hypergolic propellants), but if not, an igni-tion device is necessary.Ex am ples of liquid rocket r uels are alcohol,liquid hydrogen, kerosene, c,nd nviation gasoleneA c o m m o n liquid oxidizer is liquid oxygen;among others are nitric acid and fluorine.

A second class of l iquid p: ore llants, calledmonop ropellonts, do not need oxyg en to releosetheir energy.Of th is limited class h ydrogenperoxide is the best known.Since the e arth 's gravi ty exerts the greatestpull at ground ievel, th e greatest thru:it is neededat take-off. Because of the immense fuel weightneeded to launch a rocket with a single fuel con-tainer, there is a limit to its velocity and B ence toits usefulness.To overcome this difficulty, mo-trockets nre now built in stages. The first stage,or boos ter, g ives the ini t ia l veloci ty and over-comes the greatest gravi tat ionoi effect.T h i sstage is then jettisoned.As th e pul! of gtovitydiminishes w ith distance from the earth, the otherstage or stages (sustainer engines) fire, burn out,and drop off, until only the speeding payloadremains.Aside from the basic problem of gettingenough thrust for a Ion, enough time to counter-act gravity for apatticuiarweight, the rocketengineer must also cont r ol the rocket flight andgive it only enough velocity for the chosen flightpath. The r.earer the planned orbit of the satel-lite is to the earth, the stronger the gravitationalpull, and Therefore the greater We velocityneeded to keep the satellite in orbit. At 200miles from the earth, a satellite needs a velocityof nearly 18,000 m.p.h. to stay i norbit. At250,000 miles from the earthapproximatelythe distance of the moonit needs 2,000 m.p.h.When a satellite reaches a velocity of 25,000m.p.h. it completely overcomes the earth's gravi-


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Po9e 2tat;onal pull a,.d esc,aes.Unless its speed canbe reduced, it will travel out Into space.

A satellite's path ornund the earth generallyis elliptical rather than circular. With exceed-ingly precis guidance and velocity control, aspacecraft can be put into circular orbit, but thesilghteo drviatf'on invelot.lty will pl oduce anellipse. Earth sate,'lltes may be put into ellipti-cal orbits deliberately, so as to produce a varietyof altitudes and data.

It an escaping spacecraft nas been given agreater velocity than the earth's orbital velocityaround the sun, Itmay achieve an orbit with agreater mean distance from the ;un. With thecorrect velocity and guidance, it can be rnade toreach on ''auto-" planet ;i.e. farther from the sunthan the earth) such as Mars. But if the space-craft is launched against the earth's rotationaround the sun, it falls toward ',he sun and main-loins a smaller orbit.With guldunc't, it couldnow reach Venus or Mercury.The fl-ght path chosen for o payload wil l thusdetermine what capabilities are required of theparticulo! launch vehicle. Obviously, it wouldnot make sense to use a moving van to delivera few parcels.Similarly, it would bs impracticalto use a Saturn vehicle to orbit a small, light-weight group of scientific instrumentsThut 1s NASA FACTS Vol. 11No 5why this country is developing a family _:)f reliable launch vehicles of various sizes, shapes,and capabilities. First, this policy is economical.Second, the more experience we have with afew particulo- kinds of vehicles, the more reli-able they become. The aim is to develop thesmallest number of vehicles onsistent with thefull scope of space missions now foreseen.For each member of the "stable'' of launchvehicles, missions have been assigned Themissions range from scientific reszorch and ex-,:tnration to projects vital for national defense.At pl,,,enl , NASA manages six vehicle, underthe National Lounch Vehicle Program. They areScout, Delta, Alas-Centour, Saturn I, Saturn IB,cnd Saturn V. Development of Thor-Agena B,Atlas-Ageno B, t e nd Titan in the national programis managed by -he U S. Air Force as agent forthe Department .:of Defense NASA uses thesevehicles also In its progroms.Orbits ter the Vrejoet Merewry monnod spaievoh flightsvrete appreal"otely circw ,.er, oc welly elliptical for em-ample Fatth 7. wi'M As ronovt Go. den Ces.Wor. had %n erbOWith o per,gee (nearest to the e.M) of 100 miles, anapogeo I ferthest from he 0060%) of 766 milesimplore, xV111, lownthod November 27, 1903 achievedon24bot w-tha per,go7 of 120 males oncl an opoaee / 23.000 rh'los.

SCOUTScout, the smallest of the bask launch vehicles,

was de-gned to provide a reliable and relativelyInexpensive launch vehicle for smaller payloadsand small .satellite missions, high-altitude probes,and re-entry experiments.

It has four stages, is 72 feat high (less thespacecraft), and has a maximum diameter of 3.3feet at its widest cross section.

Guidance is provided by a strapper!-downgyro system, and the vehicle is controlled by acombination of aerodynamic surfaces, let vanes,and hydrogen peroxide jets.

The only U.S. launch vehicle with solid propel-lahts exclusively, it has a total thrust of 176,000pounds and can put a 400-pound payload intothe lower levels of space, or can put 240 poundsinto a 300-nautical mile orbit or of carrying a100-pound scientific probe about 7,000 milesaway from the earth.


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11 No. SPago 3DELTADelta has two liquid-fuel stages topped by asolid-fuel stage. Ninety feet high and 8 feet Indinmeter at the base (exciuding fins), it can boost800 pounds into a 300-nouticol -mile orbit oroulydthe earth. Its gross weight is 1 12,000 pounds,and the total thrust of the first stage is 170,000pounds.It is a workhorse NASA vehicle for a widerang! of small-payload satellite missions andspace probes. It has launched the first OrbitingSolar Observatory, some of the Tiros weathersatellites, and hc,; been 1 '.ed in the communico-tions-satellite Echo I, Telstar,, Relay, and Syncomprograms.

First launched by NASA In May 1460, Deltowas originally Intended os an Interim vehicle formedium payload satellites and small spareprobes until newer vehicles such as Scout andThor-Ayeno B become fully operational. How-ever, Delta proved io be one of the most reliablelaunch vehicles the United States has with along list of successful firings to its credit.

Its first stage is a modified Thor, its second a, nodified and improved stage from the Vanguardrind Thor-Able programs, dnd its third stage isthe spin-stabilized, solid-propellant Altair. TheAltair also deri .ed foam the earlier Vc^auordand Thor-Able vehicles. Delta thus utilizesproven engines, modified to gain high reliabilityand perform a variety of missions.

DELTA MISSIONS(23 successes out of 25 attempts)COMMUNICATIONS

EchoI1960Telslar (AT&T)21962, 63Re l ay21962, 64Syncom31963, 64

MITEOROLOGII

Tiros1960, 61. 62. 63SCIENTIFIC SATELLITESE. placer61961 62, 63n.b r n0 So : . HObto -n-or y11962

INTERNATI4:11 6At SATEIUTEArrol IU X No 1)


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THOR-AGENA B ATLAS-AGENAB

VogeNASA FACTS Vol IINo SThor-Ageno 8 is a two-stage vehicle that can

send 1,600 pounds into earth orbit (300 nauticalmiles) or 600 pot-nds into n 1,200-mile orbit.

Both stages burn liquid propellants, and thetotal thrust is 186,000 pounds. The vehicle is76 feet high (without spacecraft) and 8 feet wide(without the fins).NASA launched its firstThor-Agena B in September 1962.

The second stage is the restartable Agena,which permits great precision in selecting onorbit. Agena was developed by the Air Forceas a second stage for use in its own programs.Early in 1960 04ASA decided to use it in com-bination with Thor and Atlas rathr.-r than developa similar vehicle. The NASA version of AgenoB is modified so that various types of payloadscar. be bolted to the front end.

Thor-Agena B is being used by NASA fcr me-teorological, communications, and scientific satel-lites, including the Orbiting Geophysical Observ-o tnryand the Echo II communications satellite.It is also used in the Air Force Discoverer program.

The Arias-Agena n is a two - stage ail -liquid-propellant vehicle regarded as being capable ofputting 5,000 pounds in earth orbit and of send-ing instrumented payloads of 750 pounds to themoon and 400 pounds to Mars or Venus. It is91 feet high (less the spacecraft) and 10 feet indiameter. The thrust is 405,000 pounds.

The Atlas booster, developed from theAtlas ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile),won fame in the Mercury manned space pro-gram. The first NASA launch was in August1961 (Ranger 1).

The vehicle is used to launch a variety of mili-tary, military-support, and scientific payloads. Itcan orbit large earth satellites and place in de-parture trajectories lunor probes and interplone-tory and plonetary explorat ioncraft.Whenused as ! e launching vehicle for o satellite, theenure Agena B stage, after separation of thespacecraft, also becomes a satellite.

This vehicle consists of an Atlas D first sageand an Agena B second stage. With its stand-ard three-engine propulsion system plus two


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0,000 pounds. The second, or Ayena B,c 15,000-pound-thrust engine thatCom ponents of the guidance system a re theence system, tim ing devices, u veloc

eter, and an infrared horizon sensor. Dur-ered flight, pitch and yaw control IsIn a lunar application (for example, the

gines burr for about 2 1/2minutes beforeengines con-iring for anot'ier 2 minutes, taking the

o an altitude of 80 miles. The twoll 1,000-pound-thrust vernier engines con-

e firing after center engine cutoff lonq enoughvelocity. An on-board com puter com -After the verniers cut off, the Atlas Ageno B

a few seconds. Then the Spring-ynamic shroud protecting thepoyloed is discarded. Explosive chargeshe Ageno B from the Atlas first stage.

Peg* SDuring the 2'12 minutes of powered flight, the

Ageno B Is controlled by the hydraulic controlsystem. When the engine cuts off, the payloadis In a circular parking orbit appro , ^ r rnutely 100miles above the earth. Aiter a !A-minute coastperiod, the Aqena B engine re- lights and powersthe payload for another 1'/, minutes, placing Itin the lunar trajectory. Some 2'/2 minutes afterengine cutoff the Agena B and the payload sep-arate, and the Ranger continues alone

On the whole, this vehicle hayproved reliableand is expected to continue as a workhorse ofthe National launch Vehicle Program for a number of years. Until Centaur and Saturn ^^ecomeoperational, the Atlas Ageno will per form NASA'sheavy-duty missions.

The vehicle with which the Gemini will rendez-vous in space is the Ageno D, a 1,700 poundAir Force upper stage modified to At the require-ments of i rolect Gemini. The changes Includeaddition of a secondary propulsion system, mode-fications to the primary propulsion system toprovide restart capability, e l ectronics modifica-tions for command and docking, a systems statuspanel which tells the astronauts the status of theAgeno D systems, and or, adopter for dockingoperations.

Verniers are small rocket engines used primerily to obtorn a One adjustment in the velocity and trejectery of aspace vehicle or missile.

MERCURY-ATLAS

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ATLAS-CENTAUR GEMINI-TITAN

Pogo 6NASA FACTS Vol II-No SAtlas-Centaur, with an Atlas D first stage and

a Centaur second stage, is the most advancedof the Atlas-based series of launch vehiclesWhen it becomes operational, this 1 I 5-foot-long,300,000-pound vehicle will be capable of send-ing approximately 8,500 pcunds into low earthorbit, 2,300 pounds to the moon, and 1,300pounds to Venus and Mars.

The liquid-propelled vehicle will have an esti-mated thrust of 377,000 pounds.

Atlas-Centaur is expected to be a high-performance, general-purpose launch vehicle foruse by NASA and the Department of Defense.It takes a pioneer research effort to develop arocket vehicle :hat can utilize high-energy liquidhydrogen as fuel. The Centaur program issuch cn effort and will provide much of thebasic high energy knowledge required for thedesign of the upper stages of future vehiclesand propulsion systems, which will use the samefuel.

Atlas-Centaur is called c "true space vehicle"because its engines can be started, shut down,and restarted to cccomplish changesactionand velocity in spa ce.When fully ,,,.,utnonaI,Atlas-Centaur will fly unw -jr.ned lunar and plane-tary spacecraft beyond the p-esent cc.pabilitiesof the Atlas- Agena B launch vehicles. In preporation for this future, the first successful launchoccurred in No-ember 1963.

Titan, like the Atlas D, is a U.S. Air force in-tercontinental missile that has been adopted byNASA for a specific mission. A modified Titan11, selected to boost into orbit the Gerr..ni two-rrnan spacecraft, was used successfully in the un-manned capsule orbit of Gemini on April 8,1964

It was chosen for the Gemini mission becauseits propellants are nonexplosiveo feature per-mitting use of an e l ction-seat escape systeminstead of the escape tower of Mercury. Allengines operate on a mixture in which tl ,e fuelis a blend of unsymmetrical dimethylr ydrazine(referred to as UDMH) and hydrazine, and theoxidizer is nitrogen tetroxide. The mixture ishypergolic, meaning that when the fuel andoxidizer are brought together the fuel ignitesspontaneously, without need for an gnitionsystem.

The propellants can be stored indefinitely inTitan's fuel tanks. The launch vehicle can bereadied for use on snort notice and need not bedrained of fuel if a launch is ;postponed. Itsuse with the manned Gemini spacecraft will per-mit practice of rendezvous maneuvers in orbit,and is expected to pave the way toward successin the Apollo program of landing men on themoon.

Titan II has a 430,000-pound- thrust first stageand a 100,1300-pound-thrust s_ - end stage.ItIs 90 feet high and 10 feet it.ameter at thebase.


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SA FACTS Vol II-No SPogo 71 1

1 4

Of

S A T U R N I

958 to p rovide early capab ili tyherever poss ible. The decision to ar-in clusters allowedof eq uipment developed for U.S . ballisticissi le program s. Thus, the f irst stage of theS aturn I is a c lus ter o f e ight H- I

sixquid-oxygen, l iquid hydrogen R l- 10 A-3 e n -s of thrust.S aturn I is part of a fam ily of three S aturA is developing For i tsl o p rog ram . In Apollo, S aturn I will ! a u n c hates (engineering test m odels) of theand and service m odules on earth-orbital

Saturn I is 125,feet tall and, excluding fins,se diam eter of 21.6 feet. The f irs t1964 the sixth successfully fired Saturned 37,300 p ounds.Saturn I's first-stage total thrust o` 1 1/2millionpares with the 360,000 pounds ofen into earth orbital Plights.

The second s tage is a cluster of six enginesburning high-energy l iquid hydroger, and l iquidoxyg en, and produc ing a thrust o f 90,000pounds. S aturn I is copab!e of placing an 1 1-ton spacecraft in c orth orbit.Ten Saturn 1 launchings ore planned. ThreeS aturn I vehicles are to launch Apollo boiler-plates carrying m icrometeorite experiments.

S A T U R N ISSaturn IB (previous ly termed Saturn C -IB)

will launch al l three m odules of the Apo l lospac ecraft into earth orbit. This vehicle will h eused fo m anned f l ights of up to 2 w eeks dura-tion and rendezvous and docking of the commandmodule and Iunor excursion module.The first stage has the sam e eight l iquid H-Iengines as S aturn I, generating a total of 1,500,-000 po unds of thrust. The second stage wi l lhave a s ingle 2 00,000 -pound- thrust liqu id-hydrogen, l iquid-oxygen J-2 e ngine.The vehicle will stand 141 feet high and beable to orbit a spacecraft weighing 17 tons. Itwil l be used to launch a com plete Apollo craftw ith crew aboard in ea rth orbit. First vehicletest is slated for 1966.


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C ' ^r1J[L TANKA G^L+S1AGtENGINES, (S) 1^ y.. NASA F A C T S Vol IINo SSA TURN VSaturn V will stand clmost twice as high asSaturn 18 and hove a lift-off weight with pay.load of more than 6 million pounds. The firststage w.11 be powered by five F-1 engines yield-ing a total of 7.5 million pounds of thrust. Thesecond stage will be powered by five J -2 engines,each producing 200,000 pounds of thrust at alti-tude.The third stage will have a single J-2engine. This combination will enable Saturn Vto launch 120 tons Into low orbit, 45 tons onlunar missions, or 35 tons on planetary missions.The vehicle's tremendous lift-off force will beproduced by the fiveF-1 engines, each havingthe some thrust 1 .5 million poundsas all eightof the H-1 engines in the first stage of Saturns Iand IB.Saturn V will be capable of sending the threeman Apollo spacecraft Into orbit around themoon. The lunar landing will be mao^ with thetwo-man Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), whichwill be detached from the Apollo. After thelanding mission Is completed, the LEM will takeoff from the moon to make rendeLvous . J -4 htheApollo Spacecraft in lunar orbit for the return

journey to the earth.Without the Apollo capsule, Saturn V willstand 280 feet high.

'vEiîtLE

Scout

DeltaThor-Agena 8

Atlas-Agena 5

LAUNCH VEHICLES IN THE NASA SPACE. PROGRAMPURPOSEVEHICLEPURPOSE.For small satellite missions, high-altitude p r obes, and re-entry ex-periments.For a wide range of small payloadso Ilite missionsUsed with Orbiting Geophysical

Observatory (OGO) and the Echo11 communications satel l i te.For large earth satellites, lunarprobes, cnd Interplanetary andplanetary exploration craft

Titan The veh ic le for tsc Gem in i program.Atlas-Contour Will launch unmanned lunar and

planetary missions and has capa-bilitiessuitableforhigh velocityin terp lanetary probes.Saturn I Wil lIauncHunmannedApol lospacecraftoneorlh-orbitaltestf l ights.Saturn 18 Som e booster as Saturn I , but morethrust in second s tage.Saturn V The vehicle for the manned lunarlanding mission.

NASA rAC4S for ^set is dWigned for bulletin oord displayNASA /ACTS is on oducotnoôl pu I lca t ien o f NAS A's Iduco-uncut, or for 4 n 101/tteesoloot notelsoob insertion who^tional programs and services Rise. It will bo mailod tosut along dotted lines end folded alone solid lines0 oaddress,*** who reauost i t hens: NASA Ids.cot ional ublico-noteboob r ing insert ion. punch at sol id dots in Me mo.gins.eons Distribution Cantor Art&- I Washington D.C., Z^S40V %..oaf .. - e(. Orr" 1.M , I, so*

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