Pioneer 0

The Pioneer 0 (also known as Thor-Able 1) probe was designed to go into orbit around the Moon and carried a TV camera and other instruments as part of the first International Geophysical Year (IGY) science payload. It was the first attempt by the USA at a lunar mission, and the first attempted lauch beyond Earth orbit by any country. On August 17 1958, the spacecraft was destroyed by an explosion of the first (Thor booster) stage 77 seconds after launch at 16 km altitude, 16 km downrange over the Atlantic. Failure was suspected to be due to a ruptured fuel or oxygen line or a faulty turbopump gearbox. Erratic telemetry signals were received from the payload and upper stages for 123 seconds after the explosion, and the upper stages were tracked to impact in the ocean. The original plan was for the spacecraft to travel for 2.6 days to the Moon at which time a TX-8-6 solid propellant motor would fire to put it into a 29,000 km lunar orbit which was to nominally last for about two weeks.

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Thor: Thor, ??rr (ON), ?unor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic mythology. He is the son of Odin and Jord. While Odin is the god of the powerful and aristocratic, Thor is much more the god of the common man. During Rag...

Able: Able may refer to:...

Moon: :For other moons in the solar system see natural satellite. For the astrological meaning of the Moon, see Solar system in astrology. For other uses see Moon (disambiguation)....

Pioneer 0 related Images and Photos (experimental)

Pioneer Monument Denver Colorado	Neon Pioneer Club Las Vegas Nevada	Totem Pole in Pioneer Square Seattle Washington USA	Daniel Boone American Pioneer
Picture of the Pioneer for Communism	Buttercups and Wagon Wheel Pioneer Homestead Great Smoky Mountains National Park North Carolina	Last Letter from Attu The True Story of Etta Jones, Alaska Pioneer and Japanese Pow (Paperback) Book