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*LI
NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS
AND
SPACE
ADMINISTRATION
TELS
WO
2-4155
4
N
E
W
S
WASHINGTON,
D.C.
20546
WO
3-6925
FOR
RELEASE.
A.M.
's
Monday
June
22,
1964
4
RELEASE
NO:
64-143
NASA
SCHEDULES
THIRD
CENTAUR
FLIGHT
The
third
hydrogen-powered
Centaurlaunchvehicle
will
be
test
flown
from
CapeKennedy,
Fla.,
no
earlier
than
June
25
by
the
NationalAeronauticsand
Space
Administration.TheAtlas-Centaur
mission,
designated
AC-3,
is
one
of
eight
planned
engineeringdevelopmentmissions
to
qualifyCentaur
as
a
medium
weightlaunchvehiclefor
NASA
lunar
and
planetary
explora-tion
programs.
When
operational,
Centaur'sprimary
mission
will
be
to
soft-land
the
Surveyorspacecraft
on
the
Moon
to
make
surfacestudies
insupport
of
later
manned
landings.
Surveyor
missions
are
scheduled
to
begin
in
1965.
Centaur
also
is
beingconsidered
for
Mariner
missions
to
Venus
and
Mars.
Centaur
(AC-2),
launched
from
CapeKennedy,
Nov.
27,
1963,
was
the
first
rocket
to
fly
with
a
hydrogen-oxygenpropulsion
sys-
tem.
The
second
stage
of
AC-2
was
placed
inan
Earth
orbit
with
anapogee
of
1100milesand
a
perigee
of
295
miles.
TheAC-2
mission
successfullyaccomplished
allflightobjectives.
-more-
 
-2E-
AC-3has
similar
flight
objectivesexcept
that
second
stage
insulationpanels
and
a
Surveyor-type
nose
fairing
will
be
jettisonedafterCentaurpassesthrough
the
Earth'satmos-
phere.
Inaddition,
after
a
six-minuteburn
ofthe
Centaur
enginesand
a
coast
period,
the
RL-10engineboostpumps
will
be
restarted
to
determine
that
propellants
are
sufficiently
"bottomed"
in
their
tanks
so
that
the
engines
could
be
ignited
again.
The
restarting
ofthe
engines
is
not
planned,however,
until
AC-4.
On
AC-3,the
single
burn
of
the
Centaurengineswillinsert
the
empty
secondstage
--
weighing
about
8200pounds
--
into
an
elliptical
orbit
with
an
apogee
of
3600milesand
a
perigee
of
340
miles.The
apogeewill
be
higher
thanthat
of
AC-2because
the
jettisoning
ofthe
insulationpanels
andnose
fairinggreatly
reduces
the
weight
ofthe
Centaur
stageby
thetimethe
RL-10
engines
ignite.
Achievement
oforbit,
however,
is
not
an
objective
of
the
AC-3
flight.
Thisthirdtestflight
originally
was
scheduled
inApril.
It
was
postponed
for
redesign
of
the
insulationpanels
and
furthertesting
of
how
they
are
Jettisoned
after
Centaur
has
climbed
above
the
atmosphere.
In
early
tests,
it
was
round
thatair
between
the
panels
and
the
tanks,
containing
the
liquidhydrogen
fuel
at
-423
degrees
F.,
froze
solidcausing
the
panels
to
stick.
A
systemusing
-more-
 
-3-
helium
gas
to
purge
air
frombetween
the
panelsandtankwall
was
modified
and
successful
panel
jettison
tests
werecompleted
at
Point
Loma,Calif.,
before
the
AC-3
flight
was
rescheduled.Centaur
is
a program
of
the
LaunchVehicle
and
PropulsionProgramsDivision
of
NASA'sOffice
of
SpaceScience
and
Applications.
It
is
beingdevelopedbyGeneralDynamics/Astronautics
(GD/A),
San
Diego,Calif.,
undertechnicaldirection
ofthe
NASA
Lewis
Research
Center,
Cleveland,
Ohio.
Pratt
and
Whitney
AircraftDivision
of
UnitedAircraft
Corp.,
West
Palm
Beach,
Fla.,
is
associateprimecontractor
for
the
RL-10hydrogenengineundertechnicaldirection
of
the
NASAMarshallSpace Flight
Center,Huntsville,
Ala.
Morethan 300other
contractorsthroughout
the
country
are
participating
in
the
program.
Centaur
launchesare
conductea
by GD/A
under
the
direction
of
Goddard
Space
Flight
C
nter'sLaunchOperationsBranch
for
the
Lewis
Research
Center.
BACKGROUND
THIRD TEST
FLIGHT
OF
ATLAS-CENTAUR
(AC-3)
Thethird test
flight
of
the
hydrogen-poweredAtlas-Centaur
launchvehicle
is
scheduled
at
Cape Kenredy,
Fla.,
no
earlier
thanJune
25.
-more-
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