Evening star., 1959-11-26
ROCKET
Continued From First Page

miles. It will use the smaller
relatively well-tested Thor-Able
launching vehicle.
The Atlas-Able shot was the
first in which Americas biggest
operational missile has been
used with upper stages fol-
space work. An earlier multi
stage Atlas, earmarked for an
identical mission, blew up on
the launching pad during a
static firing test last September
Today's Atlas-Able was not
static fired here prior to launch.
An Atlas was used in Project
Score, the talking" satellite
shot. last December 10, but
without upper staging.
Today's failure ranked as g
tragedy along with the explo-
sion Of the first Vanguard or
December 6, 1857, and the first
moon rocket August 18, 1858,
The former blew up 2 seconds
after launch, only about 6 feet
above the launching pad. while
the latter exploded in mid-air
some $4,000 feet up and 10
miles out to sea, n seconds
after liftoff.
A key to the mystery Of the
Atlas-Able's failure seemed TO
lie in an event which occurred
shortly after the rocket took
on. A portion of the rocket
fell away while it was still
climbing of the pad. This had
never happened before in any
rocket firing here, and scientists
were at a loss to say what had
fallen Of.
First Stage Perfect
One thing was clear, accord
ing to DR.. Adolph K. Thiel, di-
rector of Advanced Expert
mental Space Missions for
Space Technology Laboratories,
Inc, who acted assproject di-
rector for the moon shot.
The big Atlas first stage be-
haved properly and gave full
flight" DR.. Thiel said, "but
something happened to the
upper stages. 1t never had a
chance. It landed in the ocean
The rocket is down, including
its beautiful payload."
The portentS for the shot
were almost unbelievably good.
Weather that had buffeted air.
craft and drenched the Florida
coast "a hours earlier moderated
and provided a cloudless, moon
less, Starlit sky. Hardly enough
wind was stirring to disturb the
wispy Spume Of vaporizing
liquid oxygen that gushed from
the Atlas side.
To reporters who huddled in
the crisp chill an hour before
launching atop an observation
stand 3 miles southwest of the
launching pad, the rocket
looked like a brilliant finger of
light. Through high-powered
binoculars, it had a definite
shape-the characteristic skirt
and straight sides of the Atlas,
the narrower Able part con-
tanning the upper stages, and
the small bulbous top holding
the 39-inch instrument sphere.
To II Congressman, plus
Pakistan's Ally Khan "a guest
of Representative Fulton, Re-
publican of Pennsylvania), the
sight must have been even
more impressive. They saw it
from only about q mile away.
Unnoticed at first, then later
generally recognized at the re-
porters' site, was Capt. Leroy
Gordon Cooper, one of the
Mercury Astronauts, whose e
training is directed at his being
boosted some day into orbit
aboard an Atlas. He had never
seen an Atlas fired, and re-
marked that the rocket, as it
stood on its pad, looked "real
pretty"
To the countdown announcer,
the firing was TEST 4122." That
was the way he identified it as
he droned toward the moment
Of ignition.
The rocket could have gone
any time between 2:26 and 2:51
am, according to scientists
calculations. The earlier time
was best, and it was for this
hour and minute that the
countdown was aimed.
Liftoff came only seconds
after the appointed moment.