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DE?ART?v1E:j\~'r 0;: 'Tl-iE AIR FORCE 111111111111/1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 14000033630 

OFFie;: OF TH£: SECREiARY 

Febl~0.ary 28 , 1968 

Deal" Lt Colo~1el Der'arlia11 

I appreciate your note of j--8.11Uar)' 2, to "\llrlich you attached a 

SlJaCe Systelns Division news releas8,t illqq':ch r[HOR Launch. fl I 

pre sume it is from the list of THOR "fir'~~cs)li-'-~;p~g;-3of the release, ,that you develo~Jed the refel"tence to ilfirst photog~raphs of 

the ea:r·tl~ fr'OlTI space) !I vvl1.icn \vas previously i11cluded in the text 

of your space briefin.g'. 

1r1 the i:/cerest of histol~ical 'accul~acy) tVlO corllrnents should 

be Dl.aCie. The Ti~OR did not tal-::e tl1e fi~st P:'1.otog'raphs of the 

eart11 from space .. Credit for this achieverhen.t goes to V-2 

No. 13 .. , vvl"lich flew at \tV11ite Sarlds on October 24) 19~6. Secondly .. 

a word about the nature of the ohotor)'raD:1s taken from THOR (and ... a· .. 

p~ TLA.~S). TIle carr:era irlst:,~ulnel~tation to v/b.ich )10ur press release refers l1adJ as its sale objective) tr ... e dOCtLIJ:lentatio11 of 

:-.nissile periol'"-mance J v/ith erc.pll2..S1S orl.t:18 separation phases of 

the flight. Tt1is poitlt is best illustrated by a filrfl .. which r am 

forwarding fOl~ youJ.~ enjoy:c:lent. Your school n'1ay keep it. 

I trust ti'1at you C011til1tle to find p108.sure in preseriti.21g~ the 

DOD space sto'J.AY to OUl~ fellow officers. 

I)ire eto;..""' of Space 

'vVarfare Systems School 

r~-'~n.e ...Liir Uz:ivers:t"y 

Sincerely, 

IQ () (;l ___ _ ~"-"i:.~'7/ ... :;~ ...... c:. t:..;.'(~1'":'D0~[~::;j..·y~c.:......,.: . ..---

~~}~UL 3. v'lORTHMAN 

Color:el) ~USP~F 

Deputy Director 

Office of Space Systems 

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t..'1c Cn,nndin.n-built J\louctte topside Goundcr satellite for IiASA. 

The SLY II Gtandardizcd ;\ir Force 'l'h('.)r Gl)[lCe launch vehicle is t" 

:pl.·oduccd for the Air Force System::; Commnnd ' (1 (AJi'SC) Space Syntemn 

Divioion (SSD) by ~ team of associate ,Pl'irnc contractors includina the 

Dou.slas Aircraft Corrlpo.ny) the Roc1cctdyne Division of North American. 

_ ,Aviation, Bell Telephone Iab6ratol'~es and J.1cminGton-Rand '(.J,NIVAC. 

Air Force. Thor spacela.unchcs are conducted by Douglas crews 

under the direction of SSD's 6595th Aerospace Test Wing, Vandenberg 

/li'JJ, ot' tho 6555th Aerospa.ce Test Wing) Patrick Iu<'BJ both of Ait'. 

Force Systems Co~~d •. 

At SSD Colonel Clayton E. Evuns/' is System Pl10gram Di;t"cctor for ' 

the SLY II. 

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AIR FORCE T'dOR STANDARD SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLE 

SLV-2 

PROGRk\t1 l'fiANAGER: Air Force Systems 

Corrmand's Space Systems Division, 

Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif. 

)v'lAJOR ASSOCIATE CONTRACTORS: Douglas 

Aircraft Corporation -- Airframe. 

Rocketdyne Division of North American and 

Thiokol Chemical Corporation -- Propulsion. 

Aerospace Corporation -- Technical surveillance. 

A thrust Augmented Thor, developed by the 

Air Force Space Systems Division, soars 

into space from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. It 

carries a standard Agena upper stage and 

with the addition of three strapped on 

Tniokol solid rocket engines, has a total 

thrust of approximately 330,000 pounds • 

. f! (; ~ 0 f !:: FOR ;',1 Po T : 0 [,1 (S S E) , S? ;H E S Y S H r:: S D I V lSI G IJ I l G S JdJ G EL E S fH S , G iU IF, 9 a 045 (213) 643 -0 25" 

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SLV-2 2 

PROPulSION: Sir~le liquid fuel rocket engine burnL~ liquid oAsgen 

a11d kerosene .Tvo vernier engines for fine thrust adjustment and 

roll control durL~laLU~ch. 

LH:F\UST: 

170)000 

engine. 

Total (nominal) at sea level for the ms-in engine approximately 

pOlli~ds. One tnousfu~d pOlli~ds at sea level for each vernier 

Total) 172~OOO pounds. 

GUIDt;NCE: Radio com:m.a.nd. 

SIZE: 55 feet) 11 inches high (long), 8 feet in diameter. 

'i{~;:LGh."'T: . Approximately 6,500 pounds without fuel and approximately 

99,800 pounds fuelled. 

PAYLOAD: Tnor ca...~ accommodate a variety of upper stages and space 

vehicles including the Agena. 

EACKGROmill: 'lTne successful story of .'Inor c::.s a space booste:t began \on th 

!'ailure on Au.:.:,rrust 17, 1958 \oihen it, wa.s combined inth a modified Vanguard 

second. stage and a solid propellant third stage to form a launch 

vehicle known as the Thor Able I. Tilis Tl10r Able was launched from 

Cape Canaveral in an attempt to put a scientific satellite around the 

illoon but a rr~function destroyed the vehicle 77 seconds after launch. 

:t-~ore than a month later a second Tno11 Aole I boosted Pioneer I spacecra.:ft a...~d confir:;;J.ed the existence of the Van Allen radiation belt and 

provided more valuable data on this phenomena. 

On August 7, 1959 as the TllOr Able (the modified Vang'uard upper stage 

bec&ile identified as the Able stage), the booster launched the EA~lorer 

VI e:x-periment satellite into a highly elliptical earth orbit extending 

as far as 24,000 miles from the eatth. 

Pioneer V laui1.ched into a solar orbit on H;.'!.rch il, 1960 by a Tnor Able 

established what was then a world's record for radio communications --

22)000)000 miles. 

FL:.rther nodified by"NASA, the Tnor Able nOIT is knmm as the T.aor Delta 

w1d as the Delta it has launched Echo I, Orbiting Scientific Observatory (OSO) I J Aeriel, Telestar and a number of Tiros weather satellites. 

Also in 1960 the Air Force developed another upper stage, one having 

a restart capability known as the Able star • 

(more) 

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SLV-2 -- 3 

yne TI10:;;" was then combL'1ed in fu"'1 Ai:r Force progl~a.m vi. th a versa tile -

USAF vehicle, the Agena J which doubles L"'1 brass as both upper stage 

a...'"1d. satellite. From February 1959 through Februa....7 1962 the Air 

Force achieved numerous world tec~'1ical fil1sts. Among these are: 

C-First satellite to achieve polar oj.1oit. 

C-First capsule to be re.covered f110lli em·th orbit. 

OFirst capsule to be recovered in mid-air. 

The success of thi s program was due in part to the reliable performance of the Thor booster. 

In addition to these technical firsts in this program, the Thor has 

also been instrumental in achieving other ill3jor scientific milestones. 

These L'1clude: 

"First, successf'ul re-entry at intercontinental ranges and speeds. 

OFirst recovery of' a re-entry vehicle after an ICTh~ range flight. 

"Recovery of' f'irst data capsule Which contained the taped "memory" 

of a re-entry in f'light. 

"First photographs of the earth f'rom space. 

In 1965 Thor completed its second straight year of 100% reliability in 

space la~'"1ches. SL'1ce August 1958, it has perf'ormed. with 96% reliab ili ty in more tha..'"1 200 launche s. 

'l':2;:RUST AUGMEl\,TED TFiOR (TAT): Tnis version of the Air Force Thor space 

booster combines liquid and solid. propella.;.1.t teclmologies to increase 

the Tnor I s thTust f'rom 172,000 pounds to approximately 330,000 pounds J 

fu'1d has been developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. 

T.1.ree Tniokol solid p~opellant rocket engines are mounted around the 

'l'hor airframe. Tne" solid motors are ignited on the ground when the 

Rocketdyne liquid propellant engine approaches lif't-of'f thrust. 

With all f'our motors burning, the vehicle has a payload capability 

considerably in excess of' the standard USAF Tnor space booster, and 

approaches the capabilities of' the Standard Atlas launch vehicle. 

(more) 

P, 

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SLV-2 -- 4 

LONG Tl(tG( TEOR: In 1965 a new development of the Thor was initiated 

by the Air Force. Tb.e new addition to the Thor family) the Long 

Ta.r~ TIl0~ is capable of lifting 20% heavier payloads into space) due 

to a longer burn time for the-main engine. 

The neW vehicle is approximately 70 feet long) compared to 56 feet 

for p:cevious models. The liquid oxygen tank has been extended and 

the conical upper section of the booster has been changed to a straight 

cylinder of the sa~e diameter as the rest of the airframe. This 

diaueter -- 8 feet -- is the same as the widest diameter of the 

st~Ldard Thor configuration. 

TIle total thrust of 330)000 pounds of the Long Taru{ Thor is essentially the same as that for the tru-ust augmented cor~iguration. 

Comb:Li.cd with various upper stages) the Long Tar~ Thor is expected 

to shoulder the majority of Air Force space probrams at Vandenberg 

~. Force Base) California. 

Today the Air Force Thor space launch vehicle has laQ~ched more 

satellites and probes into space tllwL fui.y other booster of all nations. 

Air Force Tilor space lalhLches ~~e conducted by Douglas creWs under the 

direction of Space Systems DivisionIs 6595th Aerospace Test Wing, 

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, of the Air Force Systems Command. 

--SSD-- ·0. 

As of: January 3) 1967 

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