USAF SM-65D Atlas FIRE 1
SM-65D Atlas
Status
Success
Date
14 APR 1964
21:42
Mission Overview
FIRE (Flight Investigation of Re-Entry) was a high-speed reentry heat research program to obtain data on materials, heating rates, and radio signal attenuation on spacecraft reentering the atmosphere at speeds of about 24,500 miles per hour.
Rocket
SM-65D Atlas
Mission Type
Materials Science
Orbit
Suborbital
Stages
1
Livestream
Not availableRocket Details
The SM-65D Atlas, or Atlas D, was the first operational version of the U.S. Atlas missile. Atlas D was first used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to deliver a nuclear weapon payload on a suborbital trajectory. It was later developed as a launch vehicle to carry a payload to low Earth orbit on its own, and later to geosynchronous orbit, to the Moon, Venus, or Mars with the Agena or Centaur upper stage.
Height
25.15 m
Diameter
3 m
Launch Mass
119 T
Thrust
1,880 kN