12/18/2023 0 Comments Nasa rocket stage agena![]() The Thor with the Agena B upper stage launched many of NASAs scientific Discovery satellites. This option provides a shuttle/Agena upper stage with the capability to place almost 3900 pounds (1769 kg) into geosynchronous orbit (24 hour period) without the aid of kick motors. The rocket itself is a scale model of a NASA workhorse launch vehicle based on the Thor missile which ultimately became the Delta series of rockets. The delta V velocity of the Agena is increased by use of a strap-on propellant tank option. These modifications to the current Agena provide a 5-foot (1.52m) diameter shuttle/Agena upper stage that will fly all Vandenberg Air Force Base missions in the reusable mode without resorting to a kick motor. The Agena upper stage building block concept uses the current Agena as a baseline, adds an 8.5-inch (21.6 cm) extension to the fuel tank for optimum mixture ratio, uses monomethyl hydrazine as fuel, exchanges a 150:1 nozzle extension for the existing 45:1, exchanges an Autonetics DF-224 for the existing Honeywell computer, and adds a star sensor for guidance update. The DF-224 is a fourth generation computer currently in development and will be flight proven in the near future. Both the Model 8081 and Model 8096 versions of the Agena B engine. It employed one Bell engine capable of producing a thrust of 16,000 pounds. The Agena B was 23 feet, 7 inches long and 4 feet, 11 inches wide. The baffled injector is used in the main engine. Using the Atlas E or Atlas F missile as a first stage, the Atlas-Agena B featured an improved version of the Agena A as second stage. High-density acid is used as the Agena upper stage oxidizer. Several current improvements, have been used in developing the shuttle/Agena upper stage concepts. These building block concepts are extensions of existing ascent Agena configurations. ![]() The Gemini 8 spacecraft was launched 1 hour, 41 minutes later and accomplished rendezvous and docking with the GATV. The shuttle Agena upper stage interim tug concept is based on a building block approach. The Gemini 8 Agena Target Vehicle (GATV-5003) was launched from Cape Canaveral using an Atlas-Agena D rocket on 16 March 1966 at 10:00:03 a.m.
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