[ATLAS D ROCKET LAUNCH FAILURE, ABORT & EXPLOSION APRIL 14, 1959. CAPE CANAVERAL]

Description: Dating to April 14 of 1959, this silent film shows various views of the test launch of the first Atlas D rocket, 3-65/926, #.1002. This launch was of an ICBM model, and took place at Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station). At 1:31, a slate indicates Atlas #1002, which was the maiden flight of the Atlas D ICBM. At 1:39 there is an explosion during launch and the rocket is aborted in a ball of flame. At 4:25, another slate for Atlas #1002. In this view, the bird is seen to hesitate during liftoff and is later aborted. According to a source, the cause of the failure was that the LOX fill/drain valve failed to close at liftoff, leading to booster section explosion T+26 seconds. RSO T+36 seconds. At 7:00, another view of the launch from a far distance.

In 1959, there were 9 Atlas rocket launches. This included three Atlas B launches, two Atlas LV-3B, and four Atlas D launches. Of the four Atlas D launches, three were failures. The SM-65D Atlas, or Atlas D, was the first operational version of the U.S. Atlas missile. Atlas D was first used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to deliver a nuclear weapon payload on a suborbital trajectory. It was later developed as a launch vehicle to carry a payload to low Earth orbit on its own, and later to geosynchronous orbit, to the Moon, Venus, or Mars with the Agena or Centaur upper stage.