Atlas-Able

Atlas-Able
	The Atlas-D Able rocket carryingPioneer P-3,sitting on Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14.
Manufacturer	Convair Division ofGeneral Dynamics
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	28 m (91 ft)
Diameter	3.05 m (10 ft)
Payload to; Trans-lunar injection	170 kg (370 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	LC-12,13&14,Cape Canaveral
Total launches	3
Failure(s)	3
First flight	26 November 1959
Last flight	15 December 1960
	[edit on Wikidata]

TheAtlas-Ablewas an Americanexpendable launch systemderived from theSM-65 Atlasmissile. It was a member of theAtlas familyof rockets, and was used to launch severalPioneerspacecraft towards theMoon.Of the five Atlas-Able rockets built, two failed duringstatic firings,and the other three failed to reach orbit.^[1]

The Atlas-Able was a three-and-a-half-stage rocket, with astage-and-a-halfAtlas missile as the first stage, anAblesecond stage, and anAltairthird stage.^[2]

The first Atlas-Able used anAtlas Cas the first stage,^[3]and was intended to carryPioneer P-1,but exploded during a static fire test on 24 September 1959.^[4]

The remaining Pioneer launches usedAtlas Dmissiles. Launches were conducted from Launch Complexes12and14at theCape Canaveral Air Force Station.One launch was planned fromLaunch Complex 13;this became the second Atlas-Able to be destroyed during a static firing, and hence never launched.^[1]

Launches[edit]

Launches of Atlas-Able^[2]^[3]^[5]
Date	Serial No.	Mission	Launch Site	Outcome
-	Atlas 9C	Pioneer P-1	LC-14	Failure. Explosion during a static fire test.
26 November 1959	Atlas 20D	Pioneer P-3	LC-14	Failure. The Payload fairing broke up at 45 seconds after liftoff, causing loss of the upper stage and payload.^[6]
25 September 1960	Atlas 80D	Pioneer P-30	LC-12	Failure. A propellant feed on the second stage had a malfunction.^[7]
15 December 1960	Atlas 91D	Pioneer P-31	LC-12	Failure. Vibration and/or debris from the Able adapter section ruptured the liquid oxygen tank of Atlas, causing an explosion.^[8]

References[edit]

^^a ^bEncyclopedia Astronautica - Atlas
^^a ^bGunter's Space Page - Atlas-D Able
^^a ^bGunter's Space Page - Atlas-C Able
^Space Review, The Pioneer lunar orbiters: a forgotten failure, by Andrew J. LePage, Monday, December 13, 2010
^"Atlas-Able".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.
^"Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-3".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.
^"Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-30".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.
^"Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-31".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.

[EA-1] Encyclopedia Astronautica - Atlas

[:0-2] Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-D Able

[:1-3] Gunter's Space Page - Atlas-C Able

[4] Space Review, The Pioneer lunar orbiters: a forgotten failure, by Andrew J. LePage, Monday, December 13, 2010

[5] "Atlas-Able".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.

[6] "Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-3".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.

[7] "Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-30".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.

[8] "Atlas-D Able | Pioneer P-31".nextspaceflight.Retrieved2022-02-18.

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[3]

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol^†indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systemsdeveloped in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL RS1^† SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I MLV New Glenn Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^†- never succeeded ^††- no new orders accepted ^†††- used Ukrainian first stage