LC-17 and Thor/Delta -- 50 years

In this year of many 50th anniversaries, let it not go without mention
at least in ssh that 50 years ago this month, LC-17 hosted its first
Thor launch, albeit suborbital. Thor derivatives have had more
orbital launches than any other US launch vehicle type, and continue
to be active from both LC-17 and SLC-2 for at least a few more years.
It does not have the glamour of manned launches like Semyorka, Atlas,
and Titan, but it is an American workhorse that carried significant
payloads as diverse as Corona and Mars rovers. Kudos to the folks who
designed and built the Thor/Delta's, and to the folks who launched
this vehicle type from LC-17 and elsewhere for over the last 50 years!

Mike Chan wrote:
Kudos to the folks who
designed and built the Thor/Delta's, and to the folks who launched
this vehicle type from LC-17 and elsewhere for over the last 50 years!


Made for some great launch failure videos early on also.
I don't know whether that design team would be amazed that their IRBM
would be putting rovers on Mars 50 years down the road...or appalled
that we'd still be using it after all those years. :-)
BTW, can anyone make sense of the Thor ASAT launch report for April 24,
1970 on this page: http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/thodsv2j.htm
It hit the target satellite...but it's a failure?
That's the way it's listed on Johnathan's Space Page also.
If that's the case, then we, not China, did the first ground ascent
collision-type ASAT test.

Pat