Atlas-Centaur

The Atlas-Centaur was a United States expendable launch vehicle derived from the SM-65 Atlas D missile. The vehicle featured a Centaur upper stage, the first such stage to use high-performance liquid hydrogen as fuel. Launches were conducted from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. After a strenuous flight test program, Atlas-Centaur went on to launch several crucial spaceflight missions for the United States, including Surveyor 1, and Pioneer 10/11. The vehicle would be continuously developed and improved into the 1990s, with the last direct descendant being the highly successful Atlas II.

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Atlas, expendable launch vehicle, Convair, United States, 
Mariner 6, Republic of Haiti, expendable launch vehicle, Ekran, Dong Fang Hong 2, Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR, Atlas, Atlas G, Atlas Centaur LV-3C, Pioneer 11, Mariner 8, Mariner 7, United States, Tarshish, Sikh Confederacy, Reman, Persia, Kingdom of Wolaita, Kingdom of Martabam-hongsawatoi, Havilah, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chinland, Calvinist Republic of Ghent, Ashkenaz, 

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Location: KML, Cluster Map, Maps,

• 

  Atlas Centaur LV-3C ⓘ
  series of American expendable launch vehicles

• 

  Atlas G ⓘ
  expendable launch vehicle

Frameless

Ali Mansour and Ned Hannum holding a Centaur main engine

Ali Mansour (left) and Ned Hannum (1963) GRC-1963-C-64329 (B&W, cropped)

Atlas-Centaur in flight just prior to Centaur second stage’s separation from the Atlas first stage.

1965 Typical Atlas Centaur Stages

Atlas-Centaur in flight just prior to Centaur second stage’s separation from the Atlas first stage (cropped)

Ali Mansour and Ned Hannum holding a Centaur main engine

Atlas-Centaur in flight just prior to Centaur second stage’s separation from the Atlas first stage.

Atlas Centaur vehicle (Centaur second stage), 1959

Atlas Centaur launch

Atlas Centaur launch

• Taming Liquid Hydrogen: The Centaur Upper Stage Rocket, 1958-2002 - historical book about the Centaur Upper Stage Rocket written in 2004, English, online
• Taming Liquid Hydrogen: The Centaur Upper Stage Rocket, 1958-2002 - historical book about the Centaur Upper Stage Rocket written in 2004, English, online

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
class	rocket		Atlas Centaur LV-3C	Atlas-Centaur	Wikidata
class	rocket		Atlas G	Atlas-Centaur	Wikidata
commons	image		Ali Mansour and Ned Hannum holding a Centaur main engine		Commons
commons	image		Ali Mansour (left) and Ned Hannum (1963) GRC-1963-C-64329 (B&W, cropped)		Commons
commons	image		Atlas-Centaur in flight just prior to Centaur second stage’s separation from the Atlas first stage.		Commons
commons	image		1965 Typical Atlas Centaur Stages		Commons
commons	image		Atlas-Centaur in flight just prior to Centaur second stage’s separation from the Atlas first stage (cropped)		Commons
commons	image		Ali Mansour and Ned Hannum holding a Centaur main engine		Commons
commons	image		Atlas-Centaur in flight just prior to Centaur second stage’s separation from the Atlas first stage.		Commons
commons	image		Atlas Centaur vehicle (Centaur second stage), 1959		Commons
commons	image		Atlas Centaur launch		Commons
commons	image		Atlas Centaur launch		Commons