Thor Able III

In-active

McDonnell Douglas (MDC)

Aug. 7, 1959

Description

American orbital launch vehicle. Thor with Able stage derived from Vanguard second stage.

Specifications
  • Stages
    3
  • Length
    27.4 m
  • Diameter
    2.44 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    2.44 m
  • Launch Mass
    52.0 T
  • Thrust
    668.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Thor Able III
  • Family
  • Variant
    Able III
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Thor Able III
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

McDonnell Douglas

Commercial
None
MDC

None

Thor Able III | Explorer 6

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Aug. 7, 1959, 2:24 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Explorer 6 was an American satellite designed to study trapped radiation of various energies, galactic cosmic rays, geomagnetism, radio propagation and the flux of micrometeorites. It also tested a scanning device designed for photographing the Earth's cloud cover, and transmitted the first pictures of Earth from a satellite.

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