The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1950, the latest event was in 1999
Human Spaceflight:
1965 – LAUNCH ABORT: Gemini VI-A, MM Titan II/GLV, LC19, CCAFS – See story below
1973 – MM X-24B flight 35, Dryden Lake – Pilot: John Manke
Military and Classified Programs:
1961 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, Thor/Lockheed Agena B, SLC1W, VAFB
1968 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, Thorad SLV-2G/Lockheed Agena D, SLC3W, VAFB
1999 – LAUNCH: LM DMSP-5D3 F15, LM Titan II/SLV, SLC4W, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
NONE
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1984 – LAUNCH: RCA NOAA-9, GD Atlas E, SLC3W, VAFB
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1950 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Viking 6 Ionosphere mission, Martin Viking sounding rocket, LC33, White Sands, New Mexico
1959 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Martin Titan I, LC16, CCAFS – exploded just above the pad, faulty relay in command destruct system
1961 – LAUNCH FAILURE: GD Atlas F, LC11, CCAFS
1962 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-B3, VAFB
1963 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Lockheed Polaris A3, EAG-154, ETR
1963 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, LC15, CCAFS
1969 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas F/Trident, 576-A3, VAFB
Other:
NONE
A Tale of two Titans (a long but interesting read):
The first photo today is of the catastrophic failure of a Titan I ICBM test launch on pad LC-16 on this day in 1959, attributed to a faulty relay in the command destruct system. This faulty relay initiated the destruct system, ripping through the Stage I tank just after liftoff. (From Globalsecurity.org)
The second photo for today is the abort of Gemini IV-A on the pad. On this very same day only six years after that early Titan I failure, the launch of Titan/Gemini VI-A was scrubbed. This was the same crew (Wally Schirra, Tom Stafford) and launch vehicle that stood down in October, 1965 (originally Gemini VI) when the corresponding Atlas/Agena failed during launch (Agena was the rendezvous and docking target). Gemini VI was then reassigned as a rendezvous mission with Gemini VII, which was in orbit as this launch was scheduled. On this attempt on December 12, 1965, all went well right up to ignition; the Stage I engines ignited, but after about 1.5 seconds they abruptly shut down. Since the lift-off clock had started in the spacecraft, mission rules dictated that Wally Schirra, as the commander, had to immediately pull the D-ring between his knees and activate the ejection seats, carrying the astronauts away from the disaster that would be the result of a fully fueled Titan II falling back onto LC-19. However, Schirra did not feel any movement and knew that the booster had not lifted, so he decided not to abort. His quick thinking probably saved the mission as the reliability of the Gemini ejector seats was questionable; the astronauts could have been badly injured from high g-forces as the seats had to launch them at least 800 feet, which was deemed a safe distance from an exploding rocket.
After the Stage I engines ignited and shutdown, fuel (UDMH) was leaking out of the PSV drain valve. The fuel had been ignited by the engine start, and the resulting fire was discovered when the Pad Crew inspected the engine compartment. Water spray was initiated and a cap was installed on the drain line. About 60 minutes after the aborted launch, the booster and spacecraft had been made safe and the service tower raised up to it. After removing the propellants from the Titan II, the booster was checked out and they quickly uncovered one culprit, which was an umbilical plug that dropped out of the base of the booster prematurely. This plug sent a lift-off signal to the spacecraft. Testing revealed that some plugs came out more easily than others, so they were replaced by different ones that would stay in place properly.
However, the electrical plug turned out to not be the only problem with the booster. Examination of telemetry also showed that the Titan actually began experiencing thrust decay before the plug dropped out. Engine No. 1 was unaffected and nearly reached 100% thrust at shutdown, while Engine No. 2 never transitioned to in-flight performance levels. Engineers spent all night combing through the first stage, but failed to find any cause for the thrust decay. Eventually however, one technician identified the problem, which was a plastic dust cover inside the gas generator that had been left inside when the booster was assembled months earlier at the Martin-Marietta plant, blocking the flow of oxidizer. FOD!!!
The cover was removed and the Titan II cleared for another launch attempt. Had the inadvertent electrical disconnect not occurred, the abort sensing system would have sent a shutoff command to the Titan at T+2.2 seconds due to the loss of Engine No. 2 chamber pressure. Since launcher release and liftoff would take place at T+3.2 seconds, a pad fallback still would not have occurred in this scenario and the astronauts would have been safe. (From Wikipedia)
Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford earn the Gutsy Astronaut award from me for keeping their cool and climbing back into that Gemini capsule only three days later (December 15). Stafford flew again on Gemini (9A). Tom Stafford is still alive and both astronauts flew, but not together, during the Apollo program (Apollo 7; Apollo 10). Stafford also was the Commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight.
