P 72

Class: Technology. Type: Military. Nation: USA. Agency: U.S. Air Force.

Unknown satellite lost on a single Atlas launch failure. Evidently not repeated.

Associated Launch Vehicle: Atlas F.

P 72 Chronology

1975 April 13 - P 72-2 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Atlas F. FAILURE: First stage failure due to explosion in flame pit at lift-off.
A lack of deluge water and collection in the flame bucket of a kerosene/liquid oxygen gel led to the explosion of the gel on lift-off, damaging one of the Atlas engines and leading to complete engine failure during the ascent.

Bibliography and Further Reading

Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.

Lockheed Martin Coporation, Atlas Family Fact Sheets, September 1998.. Accessed at: http://www.lmco.com/ILS/txtmain/ils_lsysinfo.htm.

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