Contracted Atlas
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
WS-107 Concept 2. First mock-up of the Atlas missile in the three-chamber configuration.
Credit: Ronald Wade
American orbital launch vehicle. The 1954 design for the Atlas as contracted for by the Air Force used three main engines to power a 110 metric ton rocket able to send a 1400 kg nuclear warhead over a 10,200 km range. CEP was 3700 m. The missile actually delivered six years later would have the same dimensions and launch mass, but 63% more range and four times better accuracy.
Maximum range: 10,200 km (6,300 mi). CEP: 3.70 km (2.20 mi).
Related
- Family
- orbital launch vehicle
- Country
- USA
- Agency
- Convair
Chronology
2 events
1953 October
LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Contracted Atlas.- Teapot Committee's first output - . Nation: USA. ICBM could use smaller warhead.
1954 March
LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Contracted Atlas.- US tests confirm feasibility of small thermonuclear warheads - .
Nation: USA.
The United States exploded its first "droppable" hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands. A second U.S. thermonuclear device was successfully tested on 20 March. These tests as part of Operation Castle confirmed the feasibility of the development of lightweight, high-yield thermonuclear weapons. This advance allowed the previously restrictive performance characteristics of the Atlas to be relaxed to the point where continued development was within the existing "state-of-the-art."