ttniiic_v_bw_o_n (ca. Nov 1965, unnumbered press photo)

“Out to L-unch

 

On the pad at the Cape Kennedy Space Center, a Titan 3C Air Force missile is taking shape, which eventually will carry the nation’s first manned orbital laboratory into space. Near the launch site, a group of men working on the project turn a quiet corner into their own lunch site.”

 

I LOVE the heading & caption! Wonderfully corny…it’s 1965, so it’s cool to be corny/hip to be square! I also like that it alludes to the MOL Program.

 

The photograph, and probably the write-up, was taken by Lamont Sanders, then employed by the Miami Herald. There is substantially more than I would’ve imagined available regarding Mr. Sanders! Perfect example, written by him…from his blog!!!

I like Mr. Lamont:

 

“…I came back to the Journal as a reporter after graduation in 1962, and I still can't think of a better place to be a reporter (and a bachelor) than in a big changing city on a great afternoon newspaper. Where else can you cover a Klan Rally on Stone Mountain, Martin Luther King Senior preaching, a governor's campaign and expose crooked county officials and get paid for it.

The Army required me next, but even then I worked nights as a cop reporter for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. I made enough money moon-lighting to buy a Gibson guitar, and went back to being a full time soldier at Fort Benning.

When I ended my tour, The Miami Herald -- then the biggest and best paper in a booming state -- called me to come work in their bureau system. My long-dead grandfather had worked there as a printer.

I was lucky beyond belief to be assigned to the Herald bureau on the East Coast closest to Cape Canaveral where world-changing events were in the works, and lucky to have editors who left me alone (so long as I produced stories, which I did every day) and trusted me.”

 

At:

 

snplamont.blogspot.com/2013/03/

 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Titan III-C at the launchpad without its payload, which, based on the stamped date, I assume to consist of Lincoln Experimental Satellites 3 & 4 (LES 3 & 4), Orbiting Vehicle 2-3 (OV 2-3) - third in the series, and Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio 4 (OSCAR 4). Launched 21 December, 1965, the first launch from LC-41.

 

Thanks to Gunter’s wonderful website (Gunter’s Space Page):

 

LES 3:

 

space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/les-3.htm

 

LES 4:

 

space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/les-4.htm

 

OV 2-3:

 

space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/ov2.htm

 

OSCAR 4:

 

space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/oscar-4.htm

 

Both (sort of) of the USAF transport locomotives can be seen to the left of the flame trench. And, is that a 1963 Ford F-250 Step-Side...maybe 1964?

 

Finally, per the always informative/immensely readable Andrew LePage/Drew ExMachina:

 

“The First Titan IIIC Comsat Launches

 

Modifications were made to the Transtage bi-propellant valves and a third test flight using vehicle number 3C-8 was prepared. For this test flight, the Transtage would test its ability to place payloads into 33,725-kilometer high, near-synchronous equatorial orbits in preparation for the deployment of a Defense Department communications satellite (comsat) constellation on future Titan IIIC launches. For this mission, four test payloads were carried. The largest satellite in the mix was the second satellite in the OV2 series. The 194-kilogram OV2-3 was similar to its predecessor but carried a new mix of instruments with a mass of 61 kilogram designed to gather data in support of 15 experiments addressing the effects of solar activity on space radiation and magnetic fields for a nominal two-year mission.

 

The other three payloads were various communication satellites. Two of them were part of Lincoln Laboratory’s ongoing Lincoln Experiment Satellite (LES) series. The 16-kilogram LES 3 was a polyhedron about 60 centimeters across and was similar in design to the LES 1 and 2 satellites launched during test flights of the Titan IIIA. LES 3 was designed to transmit a UHF beacon for its one-year mission to evaluate factors affecting satellite communications. The larger 52-kilogram LES 4 was ten-sided polyhedron 85 centimeters across and 91 centimeters tall. It carried test equipment designed to operate in the X-band. The third satellite was the 13-kilogram Oscar 4 built by the amateur radio satellite organization, AMSAT, to provide a long-distance radio link for ham radio operators. These would all be microsatellites by today’s definition.

 

The third Titan IIIC test flight lifted off from LC-41 at 14:00:01 UT on December 21, 1965. While the Transtage with its load of test satellites was successfully placed into a temporary 169-kilometer parking orbit, the oxidizer valve on the Transtage’s attitude control system became stuck open possibly as a result of contamination in the system. Despite the leak, the Transtage completed its second of three planned burns to place itself and payload into a 185-by-33,800-kilometer equatorial transfer orbit. Unfortunately, during the long coast before the final ignition of the Transtage, its attitude control system oxidizer supply was exhausted bringing the mission to a premature conclusion. Ground controllers were able to deploy the three communications satellites which were then able to fulfill many of their original objectives despite being placed into an incorrect orbit. OV2-3 failed to deploy at all and was a total loss.”

 

At:

 

www.drewexmachina.com/2015/06/18/the-first-missions-of-th...

Done