Category Archives: Space Flight

19 August 1960

August 19, 2024Aviation, Space Flight51-8037, 6593rd Test Squadron, Bell 8048 (XLR81-BA-5), C-119J-FA, Corona 1, Discoverer XIV, Fairchild, Fairchild C-119J Flying Boxcar, Key Hole, KH-1, Lockheed RM-81 Agena A, Project CORONA, Reconnaissance satellite, Thor DM-19Bryan Swopes

A Fairchild C-119J, 51-8039, recovers a Discovery Satellite Reentry Vehicle. (U.S. Air Force)

19 August 1960: Discoverer XIV was a Keyhole KH-1 reconnaissance satellite of Project CORONA. Mission 9009 was launched by a Thor-Agena A two-stage liquid fueled rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 11:55 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, 18 August 1960 (19:55:00 UTC).¹ The Agena A entered a 186 kilometer × 805 kilometer (115.6 miles × 500.2 miles) elliptical orbit, inclined 79.650°, and the satellite took 1 hour, 34 minutes, 33 seconds to complete each orbit.

After 17 orbits, 7 of which crossed over “denied territory,” the Discoverer Satellite Rentry Vehicle (SRV) was ejected from the Agena A and de-orbited. This ejection took place within 5 seconds of the planned time.

On 19 August, a Fairchild C-119J Flying Boxcar, 51-8037, call sign Pelican 9, of the 6593rd Test Squadron, Hickham Air Force Base, Hawaii, was sent to recover the satellite as it descended through the lower atmosphere by parachute. The air crew sighted the parachute at about 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), 360 miles (580 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. On their third attempt, they were able to snag the satellite and parachute with recovery equipment deployed under the transport, and then pull it inside. This was the first time that film from a satellite had been recovered.

Corona 1 photographic image of Mys Shmidta Air Field, USSR. This image, taken 18 August 1960, has a resolution of 40 feet x 40 feet ( meters). (National Reconnaissance Office) — Corona 1 photographic image of Mys Shmidta Air Field, Chukotka, Russia, USSR, an intercontinental bomber staging base built in 1954. This image, taken 18 August 1960, has a resolution of 40 feet × 40 feet (12.2 meters × 12.2 meters). The runway is 2,450 meters (8,038 feet) long. (National Reconnaissance Office)

Pelican 9’s pilot, Captain Harold Ellis Mitchell (22 June 1925–14 February 2013) was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The other members of the crew received the Air Medal.

Flight Crew of Fairchild C-119J 51-8037, circa 1960. Front row, left to right: Captain Harold Ellis Mitchell, Captain David Torgerson, 1st Lieutenant Robert Counts, Staff Sergeant Arthur Hurst, Airman Second Class Thierry Franc; back row: Technical Sergeant Louis Bannick, Staff Sergeant Algaene Harmon, A2C George Donohou, A2C Lester Beale and A2C Daniel Hill. (U.S. Air Force)

The Agena A remained in orbit until 16 September 1960.

Mission 9009 photographed 1.5 million square miles (3.9 million square kilometers) of Soviet and Eastern Europe countries.

The mission summary reads:

Mission 9009 was accomplished on 18 August 1960. It consists of eight north-south passes over the USSR and includes portions of China, the Satellites and Yugoslavia (see accompanying coverage map).

Approximately 25 percent of the coverage is cloud free, with light-scattered to heavy clouds covering the remainder of the photography. The PI quality of the unobscured coverage ranges from good to very good.

The scale of the photography is estimated to range from 1:300,000 to 1:450,000.

Major items of intelligence significance covered by Mission 9009 incluse the Kapsutin Yar Missile lTest Range (KYMTR), the western portion of the presumed 1,050 nm impact area of the KYMTR, 20 newly identified hexadic SA-2 surface to air missile sites and six possible SA-2 sites under construction, the Sarova Nuclear Weapons Research and Development Center, several new airfields, and numerous urban complexes.

—CORONA: America’s First Satellite Program, Kevin C. Ruffner, Editor, and CIA History Staff. Center of the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., 1995, at Page 120

The mission report contains a lengthy list of airfields and military installations of intelligence interest to the United States.

Project CORONA had been proposed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and was managed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Air Force. The Discoverer program was publicly explained as an Earth sciences research project, with some carrying live monkeys, but was actually a Central Intelligence Agency program for the reconnaissance of the Soviet Union and China.

Lockheed Missiles and Space Company at Sunnyvale, California, was the prime contractor, while Fairchild Camera and Instrument Co. was responsible for the KH-1 camera system. General Electric built the Satellite Reentry Vehicle (SRV).

Lockheed RM-81 Agena A. (U.S. Air Force via Drew ex Machina)

Internal Arrangement of Corona spacecraft. (Drew ex Machina)

The Discoverer reconnaissance payload was carried into orbit by a Lockheed RM-81 Agena A. This was a liquid-fueled rocket used as a second stage for the Thor first stage booster. The Agena A was 15.51 feet (4.73 meters) long and 4.98 feet (1.52 meters) in diameter. It had an empty weight of 1,951 pounds (885 kilograms) and maximum weight of 8,350 pounds (3,790 kilograms).

Early Agena As were powered by a single Bell 8001 (XLR81-BA-3) rocket engine which had originally been developed as a Rocket Assisted Takeoff (RATO) unit for the Convair B-58A Hustler Mach 3 strategic bomber. This was upgraded to the Bell 8048 (XLR81-BA-5) for most Agena As. This engine weighed 279 pounds (126.6 kilograms). Burning Nitric Acid and UDMH, it produced 15,589 pounds of thrust (69.343 kilonewtons). The engine had a burn time of 120 seconds. The engine nozzle was gimballed for pitch and yaw control.

Bell Model 8048 (XLR81-BA-5) rocket engine in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S Air Force)

The Agena A nose cone carried a Fairchild Camera and Instrument Co. KH-1 panoramic camera system. It used 20 pounds (kilograms) of 70 mm film. The camera used an ITEK Corporation HYAK B lens with an f/5.0 aperture and focal length of 61 centimeters. Its ground resolution was 11.7 meters. The camera transferred the film to the reentry vehicle.

Resolution was not as good as could be obtained by a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane, but the Discoverer XIV was able to cover areas that the U-2 never reached.

The Agena A orbiter also had a TOD-4 navigation payload.

Internal arrangement of Discoverer photographic system. (Drew ex Machina)

When it was time to eject the SRV, the Agena A pitched down 60°. The SRV was spin-stabilized by small rockets, and then a retro rocket fired to decelerate it into a descent trajectory.

Fairchild C-119J-FA Flying Boxcar 51-8037 at the National Air and Space Museum, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force)

51-8037 had been built as a C-119F Packet “Flying Boxcar” and delivered to the U.S. Air Force on 2 June 1953. It was converted to a C-119J at the Birmingham Modification Center in Birmingham, Alabama, during October 1956. From September 1958 to November 1959, it was further modified specifically to recover space capsules. The satellite recovery airplane is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The C-119F Flying Boxcar is a large twin-engine transport aircraft with a distinctive twin boom configuration. It has a high wing and retractable tricycle landing gear. It normally carried a flight crew of five, consisting of two pilots, a navigator, radio operator and crew chief. It could carry 42 troops, or a maximum of 62 troops for emergency evacuation. Alternatively, it could transport 35 litter patients and 4 attendants. The airplane is 86.5 feet (26.365 meters) long with a wingspan of 109.3 feet (33.315 meters) and overall height of 26.5 feet (8.077 meters. It has a total wing area of 1,447.2 square feet (134.45 square meters). The C-119F has an empty weight of 40,118 pounds (18,197 kilograms), and takeoff weight of 77,000 pounds (34,927 kilograms). The cargo payload is 20,650 pounds (9,367 kilograms).

The C-119F was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged and fuel injected, 3,347.66 cubic-inch displacement (543.858 liter) Wright 868TC18DB1 Cyclone 18 (R-3350-85) two-row, 18-cylinder radial engines. These engines were also known as the Duplex-Cyclone. They had a compression ratio of 6.7:1 and required 115/145 octane aviation gasoline. The Normal Power rating was 2,650 horsepower at 2,650 r.p.m. (continuous); Takeoff Power rating, 3,500 horsepower at 2,900 horsepower at 2,900 r.p.m. at Sea Level (5 minute limit); and Military Power rating of 3,500 horsepower at 2,900 r.p.m. at 4,500 feet (1,372 meters) with a 30 minute limit. This decreased to 2,550 horsepower at 15,400 feet (4,694 meters), and retained the 30 minute limit. The R-3350-85 had a length of 90.80 inches (2.306 meters), diameter of 56.59 inches (1.437 meters), and weighed 3,472 pounds (1,575 kilograms. It used a 0.4375:1 gear reduction. 2,395 of these engines were produced between September 1951 and 1954.

This airplane had a maximum speed of 265 knots (305 miles per hour/491 kilometers per hour) at 17,900 feet (5,456 meters) at maximum power. Its cruise speed was 248 knots (285 miles per hour/459 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters).

The C-119F could takeoff after a ground run of 3,875 feet (1,181 meters), and had a rate of climb of 795 feet per minute (4.04 meters per second) at Sea Level with Normal Power at its takeoff weight of 77,000 pounds (34,927 kilograms). At a combat weight of 49,360 pounds (22,389 kilograms) and using maximum power, it could climb at 2,320 feet per minute (11.8 meters per second). Its service ceiling was 26,600 feet (8,108 meters) at maximum power.

With a maximum fuel capacity of 2,590 gallons (9,804 liters) and maximum payload, the C-119F had a combat range of 1,462 nautical miles (1,682 statute miles/2,708 kilometers) at 158 knots (182 miles per hour/292 kilometers per hour).

Fairchild produced 1,183 C-119s between 1949 and 1955.

¹ Launch windows were scheduled to avoid the passage of Southern Pacific Railroad passenger trains which ran along the coast at Vandenberg, to prevent the spacecraft being seen by the public. Sometime only a few minutes were available between passing trains.

16 August 1960

August 16, 2024Aviation, Space FlightDavid Clark Co., Distinguished Flying Cross, Excelsior III, Harmon Trophy, Highest Balloon Ascent, Highest Parachute Jump, Joseph William Kittinger II, Longest Free Fall, MA-3 Helmet, MC-3A Partial Pressure Suit, Prisoner of War, Project Excelsior, Red Kittinger, Tularosa ValleyBryan Swopes

16 August 1960: At 7:12 a.m., Captain Joseph William (“Red”) Kittinger II, U.S. Air Force, stepped out of a balloon gondola, 102,800 feet (31,333 meters, 19.47 miles) above the Tularosa Valley, New Mexico. This was his third balloon ascent and high altitude parachute jump during Project Excelsior, a series of experiments to investigate the effects of high altitude bailouts.

Excelsior III begins its ascent. (U.S. Air Force)

For protection at the extreme high altitude—above 99% of the atmosphere—Joe Kittinger wore a modified David Clark Co. MC-3A capstan-type partial-pressure suit and MA-3 helmet. Over this was a coverall garment to keep the pressure suit’s lacings and capstans from catching on anything as he jumped from the balloon gondola. He breathed a combination of 60% oxygen, 20% nitrogen and 20% helium. During the 1 hour, 31 minute ascent, the pressure seal of Kittinger’s right glove failed, allowing his hand to painfully swell with the decreasing atmospheric pressure.

In temperatures as low as -94 °F. (-70 °C.) Captain Kittinger free-fell for 4 minutes, 36 seconds, and reached a speed of 614 miles per hour (988 kilometers per hour). During the free fall descent, he trailed a small drogue parachute for stabilization. His 28-foot (8.5 meter) diameter main parachute opened at 17,500 feet (5,334 meters) and he touched the ground 9 minutes, 9 seconds later.

Joe Kittinger nears the ground after a nearly 14-minute descent. (U.S. Air Force)

The total duration of Kittinger’s descent was 13 minutes, 45 seconds. For this accomplishment, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (his second) and the Harmon Trophy.

Joseph Kittinger had previously worked on Project Man High, and would go on to a third high altitude balloon project, Stargazer.

A recovery team assists Captain Kittinger after his 102,800-foot parachute jump, 16 August 1960. The helicopter in the background is a Piasecki H-21. (U.S. Air Force)

After returning to operations, Kittinger flew 483 combat missions in three tours during the Vietnam War. After two tours flying the Douglas B-26K Invader, he transitioned to the McDonnell F-4D Phantom II and returned to Southeast Asia for a voluntary third tour with the famed 555th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (“The Triple Nickel”). He is credited with shooting down a MiG 21 fighter.

Almost to the end of his third combat tour, Lieutenant Colonel Kittinger was himself shot down and and he and his Weapons System Officer were captured. They spent 11 months at the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

Captain Joseph W. Kitinger, United States Air Force. Captain Kittinger is wearing the wings of an Air Force Senior Pilot and an Air Force Basic Parachutist Badge. The red, white and blue striped ribbon represents the Distinguished Flying Cross. (U.S. Air Force) — Captain Joseph W. Kittinger II, United States Air Force. Captain Kittinger is wearing the wings of an Air Force Senior Pilot and an Air Force Basic Parachutist Badge. The red, white and blue striped ribbon represents the Distinguished Flying Cross. (U.S. Air Force)

12 August 1977

August 12, 2024Space FlightApproach and Landing Test, Astronaut, Boeing, Boeing 747-123, c/n 20107, Edwards Air Force Base, Fitz Fulton, Fitzhugh Lee Fulton Jr., Fred Haise, Gordon Fullerton, Louis E. Guidry Jr., N905NA, NASA, NASA 905, Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101), Space Shuttle Orbital Vehicle, Space Shuttle Program, Test Flight, Test Pilot, Tom McMurty, Victor W. HortonBryan Swopes

12 August 1977: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, the prototype Space Shuttle Oriter, Enterprise, (OV-101) was mated to the Boeing 747-100 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, N905NA, call sign NASA 905, for the first of five approach and landing test flights. On Enterprise‘ flight deck were astronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton. The crew of NASA 905 were NASA test pilots Fitz Fulton and Tom McMurty with Vic Horton and Skip Guidry as flight engineers.

Space Shuttle Enterprise during the first free flight, 12 August 1977. (NASA)

An estimated 65,000 people had come to Edwards to watch and at 8:00, Fitz Fulton began the take off roll down Runway 22. For the next 38 minutes the spacecraft/aircraft combination climbed together into the desert sky. After reaching an altitude of 24,100 feet (7,346 meters), Fulton put the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft into a shallow dive. At 8:48 a.m., Fred Haise fired the seven explosive bolts holding the two craft together. The 747 entered a descending left turn while Haise banked Enterprise away to the right.

Space Shuttle Orbiiter Enterprise during a glide test. (NASA) — Space Shuttle Orbiter *Enterprise* during a glide test. (NASA)

As Enterprise made its gliding descent, Haise and Fullerton experimented with the prototype’s flight characterisics and handling. The Shuttle Orbiter touched down on Rogers Dry Lake at 185 miles per hour (297.7 kilometers per hour), and rolled for two miles (3.22 kilometers) before coming to a complete stop.

The first free flight of Enterprise lasted 5 minutes, 21 seconds.

Space Shuttle Enterprise banks to the left to line up with the runway on Rogers Dry Lake. (NASA) — Space Shuttle *Enterprise* banks to the left to line up with the runway on Rogers Dry Lake. (NASA)

12 August 1960, 09:39:43 UTC

August 12, 2024Space FlightABL Altair 1, Aerojet AJ10-104, Aerojet General Corporation, Alleghany Ballistics Laboratory, Bell Laboratories, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Communications Satellite, Delta 104, Douglas Aircraft Company, Echo 1A, G.T. Schjeldahl Company, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Launch Complex 17A, NASA, NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1960-009A, Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation Inc., Rocketdyne LR-79-7, Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Thiokol X-248, Thor Delta, Thor DM-19, Three-Stage RocketBryan Swopes

The Thor Delta launch vehicle at Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spherical capsule containing the Echo 1A is visible at the top of the Altair solid fuel third stage. (NASA)

12 August 1960: At 5:39:43 a.m., Eastern Daylight Savings Time, the Echo 1A experimental passive communications satellite was launched from LC-17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch vehicle was a Thor-Delta three stage rocket. It entered a nearly circular 944 mile × 1,048 mile orbit (1,519 × 1,687 kilometers). The orbital period was 118.3 minutes.

The satellite was a 100 foot diameter (30.48 meter) Mylar polyester balloon with a reflective surface. The material was just 0.0127 millimeters thick. The mass of the satellite was 66 kilograms (145.5 pounds). In orbit, the balloon envelope was kept inflated by gas from evaporating liquid. It had been constructed by the G.T. Schjeldahl Company, Northfield, Minnesota. This was the second Echo satellite. The first had failed to reach orbit when launched 13 March 1960.

Later the same day, a microwave transmission from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, was reflected off the Echo 1A satellite and received at the Bell Laboratories, Homdel, New York.

According to NASA, “The success of Echo 1A proved that microwave transmission to and from satellites in space was understood and demonstrated the promise of communications satellites. The vehicle also provided data for the calculation of atmospheric density and solar pressure due to its large area-to-mass ratio. Echo 1A was visible to the unaided eye over most of the Earth (brighter than most stars) and was probably seen by more people than any other man-made object in space.”

Echo 1A remained in Earth orbit until 24 May 1968.

An Echo satellite undergoing static inflation tests inside a blimp hangar at Weeksville NAS, North Carolina. The vehicle, which shows scale, is a 1959 Plymouth Suburban 4-door station wagon. (NASA)

The Delta was a three-stage expendable launch vehicle which was developed from the Douglas Aircraft Company’s SM-75 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Designated Thor DM-19, the first stage was 60.43 feet (18.42 meters) long and 8 feet (2.44 meters) in diameter. Fully fueled, the first stage had a gross weight of 108,770 pounds (49,337 kilograms). It was powered by a Rocketdyne LR-79-7 engine which burned liquid oxygen and RP-1 (a highly-refined kerosene rocket fuel) and produced 170,565 pounds of thrust (758.711 kilonewtons). This stage had a burn time of 2 minutes, 45 seconds.

The second stage was an Aerojet General Corporation-built Delta 104. It was 19 feet, 3 inches (5.88 meters) long with a maximum diameter of 4 feet, 6 inches (1.40 meters). The second stage had a gross weight of 9,859 pounds (4,472 kilograms). It used an Aerojet AJ10-104 rocket engine which burned a hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and UDMH. The second stage produced 7,890 pounds of thrust (35.096 kilonewtons) and burned for 4 minutes, 38 seconds.

The third stage was an Alleghany Ballistics Laboratory Altair 1. It was 6 feet long, 1 foot, 6 inches in diameter and had a gross weight of 524 pounds (238 kilograms). This stage used a solid-fuel Thiokol X-248 rocket engine, producing 2,799 pounds of thrust (12.451 kilonewtons). Its burn time was 4 minutes, 16 seconds.

12 August 1960

August 12, 2024Aviation, Space Flight56-6670, Altitude Record, Bell X-2, Bob White, Flight Test, Iven Carl Kincheloe Jr., NASA X-15 Hypersonic Research Program, North American Aviation Inc., North American Aviation X-15A, Robert M. White, Rocketplane, Test PilotBryan Swopes

Major Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force. (NASA)

12 August 1960: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, Major Robert M. White flew the North American Aviation X-15 rocketplane to an altitude of 136,500 feet (41,605 meters), exceeding the previous unofficial record of 126,200 feet (38,466 meters) set by the late Captain Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr., with the Bell X-2, 7 September 1956.

Iven Kincheloe had been assigned as the Air Force’s project pilot for the X-15. When he was killed on a routine flight, Bob White was designated to replace him.

This was White’s fourth flight in an X-15, and the 19th flight of the X-15 Program. The Number 1 rocketplane, serial number 56-6670, was carried aloft under the right wing of the “mothership,” Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress 52-003. At 08:48:43.0 a.m., PDT, 56-6670 was dropped over Silver Lake, near the Nevada-California border. White fired the two Reaction Motors XLR11-RM-13 rocket engines and they burned for 256.2 seconds.

This flight took place in Phase II of the Program and was intended to gradually increase the envelope of X-15 performance with the XLR11 engines while waiting for the much more powerful XLR99. The purpose of Flight 19 was to reach maximum altitude in order to test the rocketplane’s stability and controllability above the atmosphere.

The X-15 accelerated to Mach 2.52, 1,773 miles per hour (2,853 kilometers per hour) while climbing at nearly a 70° angle and reached a peak altitude of 136,500 feet (41,605 meters). After engine shutdown, White glided to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake and touched down. The duration of the flight was 11 minutes, 39.1 seconds.

Neither Kincheloe’s or White’s altitudes are recognized as records by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale(FAI). Over the next few years, the X-15 would reach to nearly three times higher.

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