SPACEPHOTOS

(02/11/1974) --- The first Titan/Centaur lifted off from Complex 41 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station at 9:48 a.m. EDT today. The Titan stages burned as programmed, but when the Centaur stage failed to ignite, it was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer. The new NASA rocket was launched on a proof flight designed to prepare it for twin Viking launches to Mars in 1975 and other missions involving heavy unmanned payloads. The 160-foot-tall rocket combines the Air Force Titan III with the NASA high-energy Centaur final stage. The twin solid rocket boosters have a combined liftoff thrust of 2.4 million pounds. Aboard Titan/Centaur on its proof flight were a dynamic simulator of the Viking spacecraft and a small scientific satellite (SPHYNX) designed to determine how high voltage solar cells, insulators and conductors are affected by the charged particles in space. Launch was conducted by KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate