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After nearly a year's delay
posed by its liquid hydrogen
fuel, the mighty Centaur is
on its pad at Cape Canaveral
for a maiden flight. It is to
be boosted into space by an
Atlas for a 15-minute
flight -- a flight scheduled to
study the performance of the
temperamental hydrogen fuel.
The Centaur is designed to put
a payload of more than a ton
on the moon, or a thousand
pounds in the vicinity of
Mars or Venus. The first
few seconds of the shoot go
without incident. The Centaur
climbs to 30,000
feet. Then ... malfunction!
[Explosion] The immediate
cause of the explosion is
not known, but if it happened
in the Atlas booster it
means a probable delay for
the next U.S. orbital flight
by astronaut Malcolm Carpenter.
Long lens cameras capture
pieces of the wrecked missile
falling into the sea.
Falling like a wounded bird.
However, in the race for space,
scientists find progress
in every failure.