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Titan II

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The Titan II was an ICBM and space launcher developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile.

Template:Infobox rocket

File:Titan 2 launching Gemini 11 spaceship.jpg
Titan II launch vehicle launching Gemini 11 (Sept. 12, 1966)

Mission

Titan II was originally used as an ICBM. It was later used as a medium-lift space launch vehicle to carry payloads for the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These payloads include the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the NOAA weather satellites. The modified Titan II SLVs (Space Launch Vehicles) were launched from Vandenberg AFB, California up until 2003.

Features

The Titan II space launch vehicle is a two-stage liquid fueled booster, designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It is able to lift approximately 4,200 pounds (1,900 kg) into a polar low-Earth circular orbit. The first stage consists of two ground ignited Aerojet LR87 liquid propellant rocket engines, while the second stage consists of an Aerojet LR91 liquid propellant rocket engine.

Development

The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force awarded the Glenn L. Martin Company a contract to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It became known as the Titan I, the nation’s first two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM. The Martin Company recognized that the Titan I could be further improved and presented a proposal to the U.S. Air Force for an improved version. It would carry a larger warhead over a greater range with more accuracy and could be fired more quickly. The Martin company received a contract for the new missile, designated SM-68B Titan II, in June 1960. The Titan II was 50% heavier than the Titan I, with a longer first stage and a larger diameter second stage. The Titan II also used storable propellants, Aerozine 50 and dinitrogen tetroxide. The Titan I, whose liquid oxygen oxidizer must be loaded immediately before launching, had to be raised from its silo and fueled before launch. The use of storable propellants enabled the Titan II to be launched within 60 seconds directly from within its silo. Their hypergolic nature made them dangerous to handle; a fuel leak could (and did) lead to explosions.

The first flight of the Titan II was in December 1961 and the missile, now designated LGM-25C, reached initial operating capability in October 1963. The Titan II contained one W-53 nuclear warhead in a Mark 6 re-entry vehicle with a range of 9,325 miles (15,000 km). The W-53 had a yield of 9 megatons. This warhead was guided to its target using an inertial guidance unit. The 54 deployed Titan IIs formed the backbone of America’s strategic deterrent force. Ten Titan IIs were flown in NASA’s Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s. It was also supposed to be used for a nuclear weapon that the United States claimed had a 35 megaton capability. This would have made this warhead one of the most powerful ever, and in terms of power to weight ratio, advantageous over the B-41 nuclear bomb by almost double. [1]

Because of the volatility of the liquid fuel, and the problem with aging seals, the Titan II missiles had been scheduled to be retired beginning in 1971. After two accidents, deactivation of the Titan II ICBM system finally began in July 1982. The last Titan II missile, located at Silo 373-8 near Judsonia, Arkansas, was deactivated on May 5, 1987. The deactivated missiles are now in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.


A single missile still rests in its silo (without the warhead) and is open to the public as the Titan Missile Museum at Sahuarita, Arizona.

Service history

The Titan II was in service from 1963 to 1987. The original 63 Strategic Air Command missiles were distributed at the Vandenberg AFB training base (nine) plus three rings of 18 missiles each surrounding Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona, at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, and McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.[2]

A fire and resultant loss of oxygen when a high pressure hydraulic line was cut with a torch in a missile silo (373-4) near Searcy, Arkansas killed 57 people, mostly civilian repairmen. An oxidizer leak on August 24, 1978 killed two at McConnell AFB. A leak after a socket rolled off a platform and punctured the Stage I fuel tank subsequently caused the entire silo to explode, killed an Air Force Sergeant and destroyed the silo (374-7, near Damascus, Arkansas) at Little Rock AFB on September 19, 1980. A "B" grade movie portrays this event, "Disaster at Silo Seven".

Number of Titan II missiles in service, by year:

  • 1963 - 56
  • 1964 - 59
  • 1965 - 59
  • 1966 - 60
  • 1967 - 63
  • 1968 - 59 (3 deactivated at Vandenberg)
  • 1969 - 60
  • 1970 - 57 (3 more deactivated at Vandenberg)
  • 1971 - 58
  • 1972 - 57
  • 1973 - 57
  • 1974 - 57
  • 1975 - 57
  • 1976 - 58
  • 1977 - 57
  • 1978 - 57
  • 1979 - 57
  • 1980 - 56
  • 1981 - 56 (President Ronald Reagan announces retirement of Titan II systems)
  • 1983 - 53
  • 1984 - 43 (Davis-Monthan site closure completed)
  • 1985 - 21
  • 1986 - 9 (Little Rock closure completed in 1987)
File:Titan 23G rocket.gif
Titan 23G launch vehicle (Sept. 5, 1988)
File:Titan 23G launches Clementine.jpg
Titan II rocket launch with Clementine spacecraft (January 25, 1994)

Titan II launch vehicle

The Titan II space-launch vehicles were purpose-built as space launchers or are decommissioned ICBMs that have been refurbished and equipped with hardware required for use as space launch vehicles. All twelve Gemini capsules were launched by Titan II launchers. The Titan 23B was a Titan II with an Agena third stage that was used to launch reconnaissance satellites.

The Martin Marietta Astronautics Group was awarded a contract in January 1986 to refurbish, integrate, and launch fourteen Titan II ICBMs for government space launch requirements. These were designated Titan 23G. The Air Force successfully launched the first Titan 23G space launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB September 5, 1988. NASA’s Clementine spacecraft was launched aboard a Titan 23G in January 1994.

  • Tasks involved in converting the Titan II ICBMs into space launch vehicles include:
    • Modifying the forward structure of the second stage to accommodate payload
    • Manufacturing a new 10 foot (3 m) diameter payload fairing with variable lengths plus payload adapters
    • Refurbishing the Titan’s liquid rocket engines; upgrading the inertial guidance system; developing command, destruct and telemetry systems
    • Modifying Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Space Launch Complex-4 West to conduct the launches
    • Performing payload integration

Titan 23G specifications

  • Primary function: Launch vehicle used to lift medium class satellites into space
  • Builder: Lockheed-Martin Astronautics
  • Launch site: Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
  • First stage: length: 70 feet (21.3 m)
    • Diameter: 10 feet (3 m)
    • Engine thrust: 474,000 lbf (2,100 kN) vacuum
    • Weight:
      • 258,000 lb (117,020 kg) fueled
      • 10,500 lb (4,760 kg) empty
  • Second stage: length: 24 feet (7.3 m)
    • Diameter: 10 feet (3 m)
    • Engine thrust: 100,000 lbf (440 kN) vacuum
    • Weight:
      • 64,000 lb (29,030 kg) fueled
      • 6,100 lb (2,760 kg) empty
  • Guidance: Inertial with Digital Computers
  • Subcontractor: Delco Electronics
  • Payload fairing: diameter: 10 feet (3 m)
  • Length: 20 feet (6.1 m)
  • Skin and Stringer Construction — Tri-Sector Design
  • Subcontractor: Boeing
  • Date deployed: September 1988

References

  1. ↑ [http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/rdd-7.html FAS: RESTRICTED DATA DECLASSIFICATION DECISIONS 1946 TO THE PRESENT]
  2. ↑ Titan II Missile Base Locations accessed September 12, 2006
  • Gunston, Bill (1979). Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets & Missiles. London: Salamander Books. ISBN 0-517-26870-1. 
  • Stumpf, David K. (2000). Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-601-9. 

External links

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Related development

Comparable aircraft

Designation sequence

LGM-25 I - AIM-26 - UGM-27 - AGM-28
LGM-25 II
XB-68 - RB-69 - XB-70 - SR-71
SM-68 I IM-69 IM-70 XGAM-71
SM-68 II

Related lists

See also

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Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

Template:ELVs Template:Gemini program

v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

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