Titan III Research and Development 1967 USAF 14min

video for embedding at http://scitech.quickfound.net/astro/space_news.html

"Describes characteristics and capabilities of Titan III launch vehicle and its components. documents assembly of Titan III at Cape Kennedy and preparation for launch. also explains Titan's versatility in carrying a variety of space vehicles."

The Titan III was essentially a Titan II (a 2-stage ICBM utilizing hypergolic liquid fuel and oxidizer) with two strap on solid rocket boosters attached. The oxidizer for the Titan core vehicle is nitrogen tetroxide, and the fuel is Aerozine 50 (half hydrazine, N2H4, and half unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine, N2H2(CH3)2, UDMH) Aerozine 50 is more stable than hydrazine, with a higher density and boiling point than UDMH.
http://propellants.ksc.nasa.gov/commodities/Aerzone50.pdf

Only the SRBs are ignited at the launch pad, the two engines of the Titan core first stage are ignited in flight after the SRBs burn out and are jettisoned. Numerous versions of the Titan III included Titan IIIA, Titan IIIB, Titan IIIC, Titan IIID, Titan IIIE, and Titan 34D. Centaur upper stages were utilized on some Titan III launches. Famous Titan III payloads included Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Intelsat 603, and Mars Observer.

The later Titan IV is the direct descendant of the Titan III and is very similar to the Titan 34D. A Titan IVB launched the Cassini probe to Saturn in 1997. Work performed by the Titan III and Titan IV was taken over by the Atlas V and Delta IV EELVs in 2005.

"Structural Description

First stage.- The major sections of the first stage are a forward skirt, a forward tank skirt, an oxidizer tank, a between tanks section, a fuel tank, and an aft tank skirt. Semimonocoque and monocoque construction is used in all sections. Aluminum alloy 2014 is used for skin areas (maximum gage of 0.48 in.) Low stress areas of the tank interiors are milled to reduce vehicle weight. Integrally milled T-shape stringers extend longitudinally in each tank. Ring frames, attached to the stringers, provide structural stability when the vehicle is unpressurized. The propellant tanks are formed by domes and cones welded to the ring frame and stringer structure. In Titan IIIC, the core engine compartment is enclosed by a boattail heat shield. It is an aluminum skin-stringer-frame structure.

Second stage.- The structure of this stage is of similar design to that of the first stage.

Transtage.- This stage consists of an outer cylindrical skinstringer-ring frame structure. Within this structure, are two side-by-side propellant tanks and trusses for mounting the major electronic equipment. The outer structure is similar to skirt sections of the first and second stages. The tanks are constructed of titanium cylinders with domes and cones welded to the tops and bottoms of the cylinders, respectively. Material thickness of the tanks varies from 0.030 to 0.091 in.

The equipment trusses are constructed of extruded, squarecross-section, aluminum tubing.

A standard structural interface is provided at the top of the transtage to provide mounting for the various payloads of the vehicle."

from Compilation of Flight Data from Titan III Vehicles, 1966
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670001992_1967001992.pdf

USAF film FR-527

This is the same public domain video uploaded from the National Archives with the aspect ratio corrected and mild noise reduction applied. Sorry it is a bit fuzzy (so is the original); I had no convenient way of sharpening it.

see also: Titan IIIC First Flight: "Missile Passes Test: Titan 3-C..." 1965-06-18 Universal Newsreel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugYyI2WS5KA


US Air Force, USAF, United States Air Force, Titan, Titan III, Titan 3, SRB, solid rocket booster, Martin Marietta, Cape Kennedy, launch vehicle, rocket, satellite, space, NASA, space program

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