V.S. MOON ROCKET

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29010, 26 September 1959, Page 13

V.S. MOON ROCKET

Explosion In Test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Sept. 24 The United States space programme is to.be “restudied” as the result of the failure today of an American moon rocket being given an advance engine test on its pad at Cape Canaveral. Flames spurted from the base of the towering rocket as the countdown reached zero in the static engine test. Suddenly the missile erupted in a flash of fire A spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Agency said the explosion might affect not only two moon shots originally scheduled for October and November, but others planned for the more distant future.

He said the agency was studying the possibility of rescheduling the moon shot, but he added: ‘‘lt’s unlikely that there will be anything in October.” The Air Force said the missile was being prepared for a space probe early next month. The cause of the explosion is being investigated by the Air Force. The Atlas-Able missile was to have been launched some time between October 3 and 6 when the moon was to be at its closest point to the earth—about 220,000 miles away. The shot would have been an attempt to put a 3751 b satellite in orbit around the moon.

A television camera in the satellite was to attempt to take pictures ot the dark side of the moon which man has never seen The destruction of the rocket caused dismay in Washington. Officials acknowledged the psychological effect of the further widening of the gap between Soviet and American scientific achievements.