U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Technical Information Service N63-I0712 NATIONAL LAUNCH VEHICLE PROGRAM NATIONAL AEARONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 1964 N63-10712 REPRODUCEO BY NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE U,S. DEPARIMENI OF COMMERCE SPRINGFiELO. VA. 2216] NOTICE THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED FROM THE BEST COPY FURNISHED US BY THE SPONSORING AGENCY. ALTHOUGH IT IS RECOGNIZED THAT CERTAIN PORTIONS RELEASED ARE ILLEGIBLE, IT IS BEING IN THE INTEREST OF MAKING AVAILABLE AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE. NASA SP-10 Office of Scientific and Technical informa+ion NATIONAl. AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Washington, D.C. • November 1962 Front cover: Atlas-.-Agena B II INTRODUCTION THE space research pro- gram of the United States, leadinl in the vear_ just ahead to manned exploration of the moon, and in the more distant future to manned exploration of the near planets, turns on the abilitylof,our scientists and en- gineers to provide the means for propelling useful pay- loads through the earth's enveloping atmosphere and into the void of space. For this task, launch vehicles of a number of sizes and capabilities are necessary. Con- sequently, the United States is developing a family of launch vehicles ranging in size and power from the _lender Scout to the giant Nova. Obviously, it would be unwise to use a ten-ton truck to carry a few parcels or to risk a break-down by overloading a small truck. Similarly, ;t would b, im- practicable to use Saturn or Nova to orbit a small, light- weight group of scientific instruments, or take the risk of failure involved in placing too much weight on any size rocket. Either would be expensive and inefficient. By aeveloping a family of reliable launch vehicles, the Nation will have available the right size for the right job and avoid the expense of employing vehicles that are either larger and more powerful than necessary, or are marginal in power for the job at hand. [tl For each of the nation's_unch vehicles, misslbns have been assigned. These missions range from scientific research and exploration to tasks vitally necessary for the national defense. At present, the National Launch Vehicle Program includes twelve basic vehicles. They are Scout, Delta, Thor-Agena B, Thor-Ablestar, Atlas D, Atlas-Agena B, Titan II, Titan III, Centaur, Saturn, Advanced Saturn, and Nova. All of these vehicles, with the ex- ception of the Thor-Ablestar, are described in this booklet. -- Responsibilities in the launch vehicle program have been divided between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense. Development of six of the twelve vehicles is managed by NASA. These are Scout, Delta, Centaur, Saturn, "Advanced Saturn, and Nova. Development of the other six is managed by the Air Force as agent for the Department of Defense. All of them, however, are available to any agency of the Government bering we-. k to do in space. / / JAMES E. WEBB "" . / // Administrator, National Aeronautics U and Space Administration [2] SCOUT STAGES : 4 PROPELLANTS : Solid THRUST: 1st stage (Algol II-A), 86,000 lbs. at sea level; 2nd stage (Castor), 64,000 lbs.; 3rd stage (Antares), 23,000 lbs.; 4th stage (Altair), 3,000 lbs. '_ MAXIMUM DIAMETER: 3.3 ft. excluding fins HEIGHT: 65 ft., less spacecraft PAYLOAD: 220 lbs. in 300 n.m. orbit FIRST NASA LAUNCH: July 1, 1960 USE: Launching of probes and satellites SCOUT, the smallest member of ziae basic NASA launch vehicle family, was designed to provide a reliable, relatively inexpensive launch vehicle for many of the smaller payloads needed to conduct space research. It is the only vehicle of the group using solid propellants exclusively. During its developmental phase, the vehicle launched space probes and orbited a small satellite. Scout is capable of lifting a 400-pound probe into the lower levels of space or placing a 229- pound satellite in a 300-mile orbit. It has the versatility to per- form a number of different research missions, including orbital missions, high-altitude probes, and reentry investigations. Some typical Scout missions are shown below. [31 SCOUT MISSIONS Scientific Satellites Explorer IX 1961 Explorer XIII 1961 Micrometeorite 4 1961-63 Ionosphere 4 1961-64 Materials 2 1962-64 Probes Reentry Heating 6 1962-64 Electric Engines 4 1962-64 Life Science 2 1963-64 International Satellife U.K. No. 2 1963 Although the development phase of the Scout launch vehicle has essentially been completed, a program is underway to increase the payload capability from 220 :o 300 pounds in the 300-mile orbit. Improvements in some of the engines and the use of the new, high-energy solid propellants which proved successful in the Air Force's Minuteman ICBM and the Nav3,'s Polaris IRBM are expected to bring Scout performance up to the desired level late in 1962 or early in 1963. NASA's basic Scout program included eight vehicles, with thirty additional Scouts being produced. Approximately 80 percent of the latter will be used for orbital flights. The Depart- ment of Defense also makes extensive use of modified versions of the-Scout for research. In addition to NASA missions, Scout will be used to launch a number of Air Force experiments, as well as [4]