RM-81 Agena-B Upper Stage
This type of vehicle was used to inject a variety of (mainly military) payloads into orbit and as an intermediate-stage booster for space probes. It was launched aboard Thor or Atlas-D launch vehicles which were then known as Thor-Agena and Atlas-Agena. A total of 75 Agena-Bs were launched, the first October 1960 and the last in June 1966.
With longer propellant tanks than the -A model, the 6.3m-long, 1.5m diameter -B was powered by a Bell 8081 engine, which provided 71 kN of thrust, with a burn time of 240 seconds. The gimballed liquid-fuel engine could be restarted in orbit.
Satellite programmes supported by Agena-B included the military's SAMOS-E and SAMOS-F, together with MIDAS. The covert Corona photo-reconnaissance satellites, flying under the covername Discoverer were also flown aboard Agena-Bs. Scientific research OGO and Nimbus satellites were also launched aboard Agena-Bs. Space probes included Ranger vehicles going to the Moon and Mariner planetary probes to Mars, Venus and Mercury.
The above example was donated by the US Air Force to the Smithsonian Institution in 1965. I saw it in the Rockets and Missiles section of the Space Hangar in the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.
RM-81 Agena-B Upper Stage
This type of vehicle was used to inject a variety of (mainly military) payloads into orbit and as an intermediate-stage booster for space probes. It was launched aboard Thor or Atlas-D launch vehicles which were then known as Thor-Agena and Atlas-Agena. A total of 75 Agena-Bs were launched, the first October 1960 and the last in June 1966.
With longer propellant tanks than the -A model, the 6.3m-long, 1.5m diameter -B was powered by a Bell 8081 engine, which provided 71 kN of thrust, with a burn time of 240 seconds. The gimballed liquid-fuel engine could be restarted in orbit.
Satellite programmes supported by Agena-B included the military's SAMOS-E and SAMOS-F, together with MIDAS. The covert Corona photo-reconnaissance satellites, flying under the covername Discoverer were also flown aboard Agena-Bs. Scientific research OGO and Nimbus satellites were also launched aboard Agena-Bs. Space probes included Ranger vehicles going to the Moon and Mariner planetary probes to Mars, Venus and Mercury.
The above example was donated by the US Air Force to the Smithsonian Institution in 1965. I saw it in the Rockets and Missiles section of the Space Hangar in the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.