Atlas-Able

Atlas-Able

The Atlas-D Able rocket carrying Pioneer P-3, sitting on Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14.
Manufacturer	Convair Division of General Dynamics
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	28 m (91 ft)
Diameter	3.05 m (10 ft)
Payload to Trans-lunar injection	170 kg (370 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	LC-12, 13 & 14, Cape Canaveral
Total launches	3
Failure(s)	3
First flight	26 November 1959
Last flight	15 December 1960
[edit on Wikidata]

The Atlas-Able was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas missile. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used to launch several Pioneer spacecraft towards the Moon. Of the five Atlas-Able rockets built, two failed during static firings, and the other three failed to reach orbit.^[1]

The Atlas-Able was a three-and-a-half-stage rocket, with a stage-and-a-half Atlas missile as the first stage, an Able second stage, and an Altair third stage.^[2]

The first Atlas-Able used an Atlas C as the first stage,^[3] and was intended to carry Pioneer P-1, but exploded during a static fire test on 24 September 1959.^[4]

The remaining Pioneer launches used Atlas D missiles. Launches were conducted from Launch Complexes 12 and 14 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. One launch was planned from Launch Complex 13; this became the second Atlas-Able to be destroyed during a static firing, and hence never launched.^[1]