Titan III

infobox rocket


imsize = 175
caption = MOL mockup launch by a Titan IIIC on Nov. 3, 1966 from LC41 Cape Canaveral, FL. (USAF)
name = Titan IIIC
function = Medium/Heavy launch vehicle
manufacturer = Martin
country-origin = United States
height = 42 m
alt-height = 137 ft
diameter = 3.05m
alt-diameter = 10 ft
mass = 626,190 kg
alt-mass = 1,380,510 lb
stages = 2-3
status = Retired
sites = LC-40 & 41, CCAFS
SLC-6, Vandenberg AFB (unused)
launches = 36
success = 31
fail = 5
first=18 June 1965
last=6 March 1982
LEO-payload = 13,100kg
alt-LEO = 28,900 lb
payload-location = GTO
payload = 3,000 kg
alt-payload = 6,600 lb
payload2-location = Mars
payload2 = 1,200 kg
alt-payload2 = 2,650 lb

boosters = 2
boostername=UA1205
boosterengines = 1 solid
boosterthrust = 5,849 kN
alt-boosterthrust = 1,315,000 lb_f
boosterSI = 263 secs
boostertime = 115 seconds
boosterfuel = Solid

stage1engines = 2 x LR87-11
stage1thrust = 2,339 kN
alt-stage1thrust = 526,000 lb_f
stage1time = 147 seconds
stage1fuel = Aerozine-50/N2O4

stage2engines = 2 x LR91-11
stage2thrust = 453 kN
alt-stage2thrust = 102,000 lb_f
stage2time = 205 seconds
stage2fuel = Aerozine-50/N2O4

stage3diff = optional
stage3name = Transtage
stage3engines = 2 x AJ-10-138
stage3thrust = 71.2 kN
alt-stage3thrust = 16,000 lb_f
stage3time = 440 seconds
stage3fuel = Aerozine 50/N2O4The Titan IIIC was a space booster used by the United States Air Force. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. It was planned to be used as a launch vehicle in the cancelled Dyna-Soar and Manned Orbiting Laboratory programs. The Titan III was also used to launch multiple satellites during a single mission.

Features

The Titan IIIC was the largest unmanned space booster used by the Air Force until the Titan IV was developed in 1988. It provided assured capability for launch of large-class payloads. The vehicle was flexible in that it could be launched with no upper stage, or one of two optional upper stages for greater and varied carrying ability.

The Titan IIIC consisted of a hypergolic liquid-fueled core and two large solid rocket boosters. It was launched on the solid boosters – the liquid core ignited about two minutes into flight.

The Titan IIIC core consisted of two stages. The first, the Titan 3A-1, had two LR87 liquid propellant rocket engines that featured structurally independent tanks for its fuel (Aerozine 50) and oxidizer (Nitrogen Tetroxide). This minimized the hazard of the two mixing if a leak should have developed in either tank. Additionally the engine propellants were stored in a launch-ready state for extended periods. The second stage, the Titan 3A-2, consisted of an LR91 liquid propellant rocket engine attached to an airframe, much like stage 1. The third stage, the Titan Transtage, was a restartable upper stage used with the Titan IIC, Titan IIIA, and Titan 34D. The Transtage, like the two core stages, used liquid hypergolic fuels.

Background

The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955 when the Air Force awarded the Glenn L. Martin Company (later Martin Marietta and now Lockheed Martin) a contract to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (SM-68). It became known as the Titan I, the nation's first two-stage ICBM and replaced the Atlas ICBM as the second underground vertically stored, silo-based ICBM. Both stages of the Titan I used liquid oxygen and RP-1 (kerosene) as propellants. A subsequent version of the Titan family, the Titan II, was similar to the Titan I, but was much more powerful. Designated as LGM-25C, the Titan II was the largest missile at the time, to be developed by the USAF. The Titan II had newly developed engines which used Aerozine 50 and Nitrogen Tetroxide as fuel and oxidizer.

Titan III development began in 1961 with the Titan IIIA. Years later, the Titan IIIC evolved from the Titan III family. The first Titan IIIC flew on June 18, 1965. The last Titan IIIC was launched in March 1982. A later derivative was the Titan 34D.

General characteristics

*Primary Function: Space booster
*Builder: Martin Marietta
*Power Plant:
**Stage 0 currently consists of two solid rocket motors.
**Stage 1 uses two LR87 liquid propellant engines.
**Stage 2 uses one LR91 liquid propellant engine.
**Stage 3 uses two Aerojet AJ-10-138 liquid propellant engines.
*Length: 42 m
**Stage 0: 25.91 m
**Stage 1: 22.28 m
**Stage 2: 7.9 m
**Stage 3: 4.57 m
*Diameter:
**Stage 0: 3.05 m
**Stage 1: 3.05 m
**Stage 2: 3.05 m
**Stage 3: 3.05 m
*Mass:
**Stage 0: Empty 33,798 kg/ea; Full 226,233 kg/ea
**Stage 1: Empty 5,443 kg; Full 116,573 kg
**Stage 2: Empty 2,653 kg; Full 29,188 kg
**Stage 3: Empty 1,950 kg; Full 12,247 kg
*Lift capability:
**Up to 28,900 lb (13,100 kg) into a low-earth orbit with 28 degrees inclination.
**Up to 6,600 lb (3,000 kg) into a geosynchronous transfer orbit when launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
*Maximum takeoff weight: 626,190 kg
*Cost:
*Date deployed: June 1965.
*Launch sites: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.

Use with Centaur upper stage

An even more powerful version of the Titan III, the Titan IIIE, which had the Centaur upper stage, carried out the launch of several deep-space probes, including both Viking probes and landers, both Voyager probes and the Helios probes.

Use with Agena upper stage

The Titan IIIB name was used for derivatives of both the Titan II and Titan III. In each case, the vehicle used an Agena-D upper stage. Two variants, the Titan 24B and Titan 34B, were derived from Titan IIIM rockets.

Titan family retirement

The Titan IV was the final member of the Titan rocket family. It became obsolete with the advent of two Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles, the Atlas V and the Delta IV. This led to the retirement of the Titan in 2005.

External links

* [http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/titan3c.htm Titan3C]
* [http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/launch/titan.htm Titan III & variations]
* [http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1969/jan-feb/bleymaier.html Future Space Booster Requirements] - January-February 1969 "Air University Review"