Unknown Rocket Wreckage

I think that Atlas Centaur is the closest match - I don't know how you could
ever associate this with a particular mission, unless you could get a part
number off the thing or there was something very unique about it. Sounds
like an excuse to make a trip to Spanish Cay, if you ask me. I'm sure it's
horrible down there.

C. Newport

"C. Newport" wrote in message ...
I think that Atlas Centaur is the closest match - I don't know how you could
ever associate this with a particular mission, unless you could get a part
number off the thing or there was something very unique about it. Sounds
like an excuse to make a trip to Spanish Cay, if you ask me. I'm sure it's
horrible down there.

C. Newport

For starters, we can eliminate some vehicles. The first
ten Centaur heat shield panels either had no horizontal
black stripe at the top or had more space between the
stripe and the "UNITED" lettering than this artifact.
We can also eliminate AC-43, which suffered an Atlas
engine failure not long after liftoff, and AC-67, which
was struck by lightning shortly after liftoff and had to
be destroyed. There were six other vehicle failures in
the 1967-89 AC-11 to AC-68 run (AC-17, 21, 24, 33, 59,
and 62) but those all occurred after the Centaur panels
had separated. That leaves 56 possibilities, which include
both historic missions (like Surveyor 4-7, Mariner 6-10,
and, most historically, Pioneer 10-11) and more mundane
flights (FLTSATCOM, INTELSAT, etc). I'm interested in AC-21.
That mission failed because the payload shroud failed to
separate. Could a hung-up Centaur insulation panel, one
that didn't drop until futher down range than usual, have
been involved?

- Ed Kyle