Status
Failure
Vanguard SLV-6
Launch Time
Mon Jun 22, 1959 20:16 UTC
Mon Jun 22, 1959 20:16 UTC
The second stage helium control bottle valve failed to open properly at engine start. Tank and chamber pressures rapidly decayed during second stage burn, and 40 seconds after engine start, the helium bottle ruptured due to pressure buildup. The third stage then separated and ignited, driving itself and the satellite into the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles downrange.
Rocket
Mission Details
Vanguard SLV-6
The Vanguard Radiation Ballance satellite was a magnesium alloy sphere (20 inches in diameter) intended to measure the solar-Earth heating process which generates weather.
Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 10.0 kg
Medium Earth Orbit
Location
LC-18A, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA
Stats
1959
9th orbital launch attempt
Vanguard
10th mission
3rd mission of 1959
8th failed mission