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The last Atlas-Agena was flown in 1978 to launch SEASAT, but on a repurposed Atlas F missile rather than the SLV-3. Dozens of Atlas SLV-3/Agena D boosters were flown over the following years, mostly for the KH-7 Gambit program, also for a few NASA missions. The Atlas SLV-3 meanwhile first flew in August 1964. The Agena D first flew in July 1963 for DoD launches, but NASA continued using Agena Bs for the remaining Ranger missions. The end result was the Atlas SLV-3 and Agena D, standardized versions of the Atlas D core and Agena B which would be the same on every launch (at least as far as the Atlas was concerned, Agena Ds often still had customized setups, especially for DoD payloads). The board recommended improved quality control, better hardware, and also establishing one standardized launch vehicle for all space programs. The board found that quality control and checkout procedures were poor, and that this situation was exacerbated by the several dozen configurations of the booster, as each individual DoD and NASA program necessitated custom modifications to the Atlas and Agena, and the latter also differed in its Atlas and Thor variants. Atlas rocket used to launch the Agena Docking Target in Gemini as well as Mariner and Surveyor.
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In late 1962, after Ranger 5 suffered another booster malfunction, albeit a minor one that ground controllers were able to work around, NASA convened a review board which undertook a wholesale reevaluation of the Atlas-Agena as a launch vehicle. Atlas-Agenas were then used for DoD and NASA programs, but proved a reliability nightmare as one failure after another happened. It first flew on the Thor and did not make its maiden voyage on an Atlas for months, when Midas 3 launched on July 12, 1961. Late in 1960, Lockheed introduced the uprated Agena B stage which was restartable and had longer propellant tanks for more burn time. Most of these were flown on Thor-Agena boosters for the Discoverer program and only four used Atlases ( Midas 1, Midas 2, Samos 1, and Samos 2), two of which failed. The earliest Agena variant was the Agena A in 1959–60, which did not have restart capability. The final Atlas-Agena launch used an Atlas E/F. These were later replaced by the standardized Atlas SLV-3, and its derivatives, the SLV-3A and B. Initially, Atlas D missiles, redesignated as the LV-3, were used as the first stage. National Archives or DVIDS.The Atlas-Agena was a two-and-a-half-stage rocket, with a stage-and-a-half Atlas missile as the first stage, and an RM-81 Agena second stage. This website is developed as a part of the world's largest public domain archive,, and not developed or endorsed by the U.S. law and are therefore in the public domain. National Archives and DVIDS is "a work prepared by an officer or employee" of the federal government "as part of that person's official duties." In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act, such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. All of these materials are preserved because they are important to the workings of Government, have long-term research worth, or provide information of value to citizens.ĭisclaimer: A work of the U.S. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service provides a connection between world media and the American military personnel serving at home and abroad. There are approximately 10 billion pages of textual records 12 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawings 25 million still photographs and graphics 24 million aerial photographs 300,000 reels of motion picture film 400,000 video and sound recordings and 133 terabytes of electronic data. NARA keeps those Federal records that are judged to have continuing value-about 2 to 5 percent of those generated in any given year.
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