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Thor Able I

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Status: Retired 1958. First Launch: 1958-08-17. Last Launch: 1958-11-08. Number: 3 . Payload: 50 kg (110 lb). Thrust: 710.00 kN (159,610 lbf). Gross mass: 52,000 kg (114,000 lb). Height: 26.90 m (88.20 ft). Diameter: 2.44 m (8.00 ft). Apogee: 100,000 km (60,000 mi).

LEO Payload: 50 kg (110 lb).

• Pioneer (1) - . Payload: Pioneer / Able 1. Mass: 38 kg (83 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Pioneer. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft: Pioneer 0-1-2. Decay Date: 1958-08-17 . Apogee: 16 km (9 mi).

  An Air Force Thor/Able It launch vehicle, carrying the first U.S. International Geophysical Year (IGY) lunar payload, exploded 77 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral because of a first-stage engine failure. First US lunar attempt. The first US Air Force lunar probe, using a Thor-Able booster. An explosion ripped it apart 77 seconds after launch.

• Pioneer 1 - . Payload: Pioneer 1 / Able 2. Mass: 38 kg (83 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Program: Pioneer. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft: Pioneer 0-1-2. Decay Date: 1958-10-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 110 . COSPAR: 1958-Eta-1. A Thor/Able launched the NASA Pioneer I, the first successful space probe, to a new altitude record of over 70,000 miles. AFBMD provided the vehicle and launched it under NASA direction. Set distance record; failed to reach moon..

• Pioneer 2 - . Payload: Pioneer 2 / Able 3. Mass: 39 kg (85 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Program: Pioneer. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft: Pioneer 0-1-2. Decay Date: 1958-11-08 . Apogee: 1,550 km (960 mi). Pioneer 2 was launched from the Atlantic Missile Range, using a Thor-Able booster, the Air Force acting as executive agent to NASA. The 86.3-pound instrumented payload, intended as a lunar probe, failed to reach escape velocity..