1/23/2024 0 Comments Atlas agena paper model pdf![]() LOX/RP orbital upper stage development until SpaceX created Falcon 1 and 9 more than 45 years later. The decision also ended JPL Vega third stage and JPL's high thrust propulsion work. NASA would turn out to have enough on its plate getting Centaur flying. It was a sound decision that saved a lot of money, and likely a lot of development heartache. Prototype Vega stages were built, engines were tested, and $28.2 million was spent, but NASA Administrator Glennan canceled the project in December 1959 after the Agency became fully aware of the planned Agena B capabilities. ![]() The first Agena A was far outclassed by Atlas-Vega, but an Atlas-Agena B nearly duplicated NASA's planned rocket - and did so with one less stage. The Air Force itself was just then figuring out how it would proceed with an advanced Agena. What it wasn't fully briefed on were USAF plans for the much more capable, restartable Agena B (which led to Agena D). Of course NASA knew about Agena then, because Discoverer 1 launched on February 28, 1959. This was part of a plan to develop Atlas-Vega and Atlas-Centaur as NASA's workhorse launch vehicles, along with Saturn. Early NASA initiated the Atlas-Vega program in March 1959. Its first months were a bit chaotic as Glennan began to get his arms around the disparate organizations that combined to form the Agency. So it was probably the case that NASA officials were aware of Agena, then found out about the restart capability, and that convinced them that they could just use the restartable Agena instead. It did not initially have it, but when it was added that duplicated Vega's capability. So the shroud had to cover a full-size spacecraft whether it was on an Agena or the Centaur. I also vaguely remember that the real issue was the incorporation of the restart capability in the Agena. I should add that for at least part of its development time (1960-1962) the plan was essentially to launch a regular Advent comsat on an Atlas Agena into low Earth orbit (well, they were talking 5000 nautical miles, so thats really medium orbit). I think that most likely what really happened is that eventually somebody in charge figured that their capabilities were similar enough that Vega was unnecessary. ![]() I doubt that this is what happened because the development of Atlas Agena was public. What I have occasionally seen reported is that Vega was canceled when NASA "found out" about the existence of the Atlas Agena, which had the same capabilities. I'm too lazy to go dig through my print articles at the moment, but I think that Quest did an article back in the 1990s about the Vega development. Country of Origin United States of America Type EQUIPMENT-Ground Control Apparatus Dimensions 3-D: 292.1 x 101.6 x 101.6cm (115 x 40 x 40 in. Number 3 on the parts list says: 4 CR25P centering rings. They depict the mockup for the Atlas Vega upper stage that was under development for NASA and then canceled in 1959. Zooch uses a two ply Kevlar ribbon, not the usual Kevlar you’d find in a rocket kit. Michael Van on the Secret Projects forum found these images on the San Diego Air and Space Museum website.
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