Rocketry Nation

More at scitech.quickfound.net Launch a Thor-Agena carrying Discoverer VI on August 19, 1959: MCU tracking camera footage of the launch and programmed flight of Thor-Agena carrying Discoverer VI on 19 August 1959 at Vandenberg AFB. Public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. Film was silent; I have added music: “Glow in the Dark” from www.pacdv.com Discoverer 5 launch: www.youtube.com Explorer 6 launch: www.youtube.com en.wikipedia.org The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the US Air Force. The Corona satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), the People’s Republic of China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972. en.wikipedia.org Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles. The rockets used Thor first stages and Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket family. The first attempted launch of a Thor-Agena was in January 1959. The first successful launch was on February 28, 1959, launching Discoverer-1. nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov The Discoverer 6 spacecraft consisted of a main satellite body and a separable reentry vehicle containing a recovery capsule. It was designed to …

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