... never seen a nose like that on a Titan before. The Soviets liked blunt noses! Maybe this is an earlier test of a 'bus' to carry Multiple Warheads. So what we are seeing is just a cover over the actual re-entry vehicle shapes. Or maybe it's just an all purpose ugly top-off for a missile test.
all images- Right click- open in New Window or Tab = super colossal size!
This is one of the Titan II's they pulled out of storage to use as a satellite launcher. From 1988-2003 they launched 13 with only 1 partial failure when a solid booster on the payload failed.
ReplyDeleteThe old girls did good.
It's a Titan 23G launching a NOAA satellite in 2002.
ReplyDeleteThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft (NOAA-M) lifts off at 2:23 p.m. EDT aboard a Titan II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. NOAA-M is another in a series of polar-orbiting Earth environmental observation satellites that provide global data to NOAA's short- and long-range weather forecasting systems.
ReplyDeletehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Titan_23G_launch_with_NOAA-M.jpg