The first Titan-Centaur lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station at 9:48 a.m. EDT on Feb. 11, 1974. The Titan stages burned as programmed, but when the Centaur stage failed to ignite, it was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer. The rocket was launched on a proof flight designed to prepare it for twin Viking launches.
The first Titan-Centaur lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station at 9:48 a.m. EDT on Feb. 11, 1974. 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. Launch was conducted by Kennedy’s Unmanned Launch Operations Directorate.
Image credit: NASA
Feb. 11, 1974