AEC
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American agency overseeing development of rocket engines and rockets. Atomic Energy Commission, USA. Responsible for development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power applications. Became part of the newly-created Department of Energy in 1971.
Related
- Country
- USA
- Launch Vehicles
- Nike Viper I
- Launch Sites
- Mercury site, Nevada Test Site
- Stages
- Timberwind 45, Timberwind 75, Timberwind 250
Chronology
18 events
1960 February 4
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Viper. Launch Vehicle: Nike Viper I.1960 April 29
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Viper. Launch Vehicle: Nike Viper I.1960 June 27
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Viper. Launch Vehicle: Nike Viper I.1960 July 1
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Deacon Arrow II.1960 July 8
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Deacon Arrow II.1960 July 14
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Deacon Arrow II.1960 July 20
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Nike Cajun.1960 September 30
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Viper. Launch Vehicle: Nike Viper I.1960 November 21
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Nike Cajun.1960 November 22
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Nike Cajun.1961 March 27
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-B. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Deacon Arrow II.1962 July 9
Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LC-A. Launch Vehicle: Journeyman.1962 October 20
08:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Johnston Island. LV Family: Sergeant. Launch Vehicle: Castor-Recruit.- CHECKMATE Nuclear test - .
Nation: USA.
Agency: AEC.
Apogee: 147 km (91 mi).
Test of the Los Alamos XW-50X1 60 kiloton nuclear warhead. Launch vehicle was a solid propellant XM-33 Strypi rocket with a Recruit booster stage. The warhead detonated at an altitude of 147 km, 66 km from Johnston Island. Observers on the island saw a green and blue circular region surrounded by a red ring. This faded in less than a minute. Blue-green streamers and pink striations developed that lasted half an hour. At this yield, even with the high altitude, extensive disruption of communications were not reported.
1965 April 3
21:24 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC4E. LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Atlas SLV-3 Agena D.- Snapshot - .
Payload: SNAP 10A / Agena D / OPS 4682. Mass: 440 kg (970 lb). Nation: USA.
Agency: AEC,
USAF.
Class: Technology.
Type: Ion engine technology satellite. Spacecraft: Snapshot.
USAF Sat Cat: 1314 . COSPAR: 1965-027A. Apogee: 1,314 km (816 mi). Perigee: 1,270 km (780 mi). Inclination: 90.30 deg. Period: 111.40 min.
The 6595th Aerospace Test Wing launched an Atlas/Agena which boosted the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Snapshot spacecraft into orbit carrying the SNAP-10A satellite nuclear power supply experiment. The onboard nuclear reactor was used to provide electric power for an ion engine, marking the first attempt to test a reactor-ion system in orbit. Only nuclear reactor ever orbited by the United States. The SNAP-10A reactor provided electrical power for an 8.5 mN ion engine using cesium propellant. The engine was shut off after one hour of operation when high-voltage spikes created electromagnetic interference with the satellite's attitude control system sensors. The reactor continued in operation, generating 39 kWt and more than 500 watts of electrical power for 43 days before the spacecraft telemetry failed.