An Atlas Centaur Rocket Launches
Explanation:
Atlas Centaur rockets have
launched over 75 successful unmanned missions.
These missions included the
Surveyor series - the first vehicles to make soft
landings on the
Moon,
Pioneer 10 and
11 - the first missions to fly by
Jupiter and
Saturn and the first man-made
objects able to leave our
Solar System, the
Viking missions which landed on
Mars, several satellites in the
High Energy Astrophysics
Observatory (HEAO)
series,
Pioneer Venus which circled and mapped the surface of
Venus, and
numerous
Intelsat
satellites. Of recent scientific interest was the
Atlas
launched
SOHO
mission which will continually observe the
Sun. Atlas rockets are
manufactured by
Lockheed Martin Co.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
