![]() The Titan IIIE, a modified version of the Titan IIID used by the Air Force since 1971 as a satellite launcher and made by Martin Marietta Corporation, was a powerful, versatile vehicle. ![]() NASA had used another model of the Air Force Titan, the Titan II, for the manned Gemini program, 1965-1966. Mated with a Titan IIIE two-stage vehicle, the improved Centaur could boost the 3500-kilogram, two-part Viking spacecraft to the Red Planet. Centaur also had a role in the Viking Mars landing project. In November 1973, Atlas-Centaur boosted Mariner 10 (500 kilograms) to an interplanetary (Venus and Mercury) trajectory. A second attempt weeks later saw Mariner 9 (990 kilograms) off on its journey to Mars. In May 1971, a Centaur failure led to the destruction of the next Mariner spacecraft. It was 1969 before Atlas-Centaur sent two 400-kilogram Mariners flying by Mars. Centaur, a liquid-hydrogen-fueled stage developed for NASA by General Dynamics/Convair, did not go into service until 1966, however. Advanced mission planners of the early 1960s had based their planetary exploration schedules on the early availability of the high-energy Centaur upper stage. Atlas-Agena D, with an improved upper stage that could accept a greater variety of payloads, launched the next three Mariners in 19. Paired with the Atlas booster, Agena B was used in 1962 for the first two Mariner flights (the Atlas stage malfunctioned during the Mariner 1 launch). ![]() for the Air Force, was capable of restarting its engines, thus permitting the spacecraft to be positioned more precisely. The Agena upper stage, developed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. Appendix E Launch Vehicles for Mars MissionsĪtlas-Agena launch vehicles-used by NASA during the 1960s to launch a variety of payloads to Earth orbit, the moon, and the near planets-sent Mariner spacecraft (200-260 kilograms) on their way to Venus or Mars. SP-4212 On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet.
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