Thor-Agena was a series of orbital
launch vehicles.[1] The launch vehicles used the
Douglas-built
Thor first
stage and the
Lockheed-built
Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more-famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the
Delta rocket family. The first attempted launch of a Thor-Agena was in January 1959. The first successful launch was on 28 February 1959, launching Discoverer 1. It was the first two-stage launch vehicle to place a satellite into orbit.
Missions
Among other uses, the clandestine
CORONA program used Thor-Agena from June 1959 until January 1968 to launch
United States military
reconnaissance satellites operated by the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During this program, Thor-Agena
launch vehicles were used in 145 launch attempts,[2] now known to have been part of satellite surveillance programs.
Also, Alouette 1,Canada's first satellite, was launched on a Thor-Agena B.
1963 Mystery Cloud
On 28 February 1963, a Thor-Agena launch vehicle carrying a spy satellite into orbit was launched from
Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch vehicle went off course and mission control detonated the launch vehicle at an altitude of 44 km (27 mi) before it could reach orbit. The launch vehicle detonation produced a large circular cloud that appeared over the southwestern United States. Due to its mysterious nature, appearing at a very high altitude and being visible for hundreds of miles, the cloud attracted widespread attention and was published by the news media. The cloud was featured on the cover of Science Magazine in April 1963, Weatherwise Magazine in May 1963, and had a full page image published in the May issue of Life Magazine.[3][4] Prof. James MacDonald at the
University of Arizona Institute for Atmospheric Physics investigated the phenomena and linked it to the Thor launch vehicle launch after contacting military personnel at Vandenberg Air Force Base. When the launch records were later declassified, the United States Air Force released a memo explaining that the cloud was the result of a military operation.[5][6]
16 launches between 21 January 1959 and 13 September 1960
The
Discoverer 14 satellite used in the CORONA spy satellite program was launched by a Thor-Agena A. On 19 August 1960, usable photographic film from the satellite was recovered by a
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar recovery aircraft. This was the first successful recovery of film from an orbiting satellite and the first
mid-air recovery of an object returning from
Earth orbit.[8]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thor Agena.
^Krebs, Gunter D.
"Thor Agena". Gunter's Space Page.
^Day, Dwayne; Logsdon, John; Latell, Brian (1998). Eye in the Sky: The Story of the Corona Spy Satellites. Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 236–245.
ISBN9781560987734.
OCLC36783934.
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future
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