Encyclopedia entry

Thor DSV-2F

Launch vehicle · USA

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

American orbital launch vehicle. Single stage vehicle.

More at: Thor DSV-2F.

Chronology

3 events

09:39 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC17B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DSV-2F.

ASSET 1 re-entry vehicle test flight - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 56 km (34 mi).
A Thor (SLV-2) booster lifted the first Aerothermodynamic/Elastic Structural Systems Environmental Tests (ASSET) program vehicle (ASV-1) on a successful suborbital flight from Cape Canaveral. The ASSET program was designed to test materials and study flight characteristics of glide reentry vehicles. SSD provided the boosters and launch services for the program, while Flight Dynamics Laboratory was responsible for overall program management. Suborbital test of small scale spaceplane model to test materials for the X-20 Dynasoar. Aero-thermodynamic structural test vehicle (ASV) for heat shield tests. Booster flew to peak altitude of 62 km, then pitched down, driving the spacecraft to separation at 59 km and 4,906 m/s. The spacecraft was sited under its parachute in the recovery zone at Ascension Island, but the flotation bag broke and it sank into the Atlantic.

03:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC17B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DSV-2F.

ASSET 4 re-entry vehicle test flight - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Spacecraft: Asset. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi).
Suborbital test of small scale spaceplane model to test structural concepts for the X-20 Dynasoar. Aero-environmental test vehicle (AEV) to test aerodynamic properties of flexing outer skin with corrugated columbium panel. Reached 4,000 m/s at 50.6 km altitude before being released from single-stage Thor SLV-2 launch vehicle. Telemetry received for 900 seconds until spaceplane had reached Mach 2 1200 km downrange. It then became unstable and crashed into the Atlantic. Recovery was not planned. AEV-1 was part of Space Systems Division's Aerothermodynamic/ elastic Structural Systems Evaluation Test (ASSET) program, and the first of two tests to obtain data on structural behavior during reentry, with emphasis on thermoelastic effects.

02:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC17B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor DSV-2F.

ASSET 5 re-entry vehicle test flight - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 50 km (31 mi).
The 6555th Aerospace Test Wing successfully launched the fifth ASSET reentry test vehicle, a suborbital test of small scale spaceplane model to test structural concepts for the X-20 Dynasoar. Aero-environmental test vehicle (AEV) to test aerodynamic properties of flexing outer skin with corrugated columbium panel. Reached 4,000 m/s at 53.2 km altitude before being released from launch vehicle. Telemetry received for 900 seconds until spaceplane had reached Mach 2 1200 km downrange. It then became unstable and crashed into the Atlantic. Recovery was not planned.