Conversion of Atlas Missiles to Launch Vehicles The Second Time Around ~ 1968 US Air Force Space & Missile Systems Organization
Added 2020-04-08 20:25:53 +0000 UTCmore at http://quickfound.net/
Originally a public domain film from the US Air Force, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_and_Missile_Systems_Center
Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) is a command of the United States Space Force, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base. The Space and Missile Systems Center is responsible for developing, acquiring, fielding, and sustaining military space systems...
The Space and Missile Systems Center's first predecessor was the Western Development Division, organized under the United States Air Force's Air Research and Development Command. Created by Brigadier General Bernard Schriever in July 1954, it was responsible for the development of Air Force ballistic missiles, but it soon also became responsible for the development of military space systems in October of 1955. On 20 March 1961 it was redesignated as Air Force Systems Command's Space Systems Division.
By 1962 the Space Systems Division it had developed the Atlas, Titan I, and Thor ballistic missiles. Throughout the 1960s it continued intercontinental ballistic missile research and development, fielding the Titan II and Minuteman missile series. On 25 May 1967 the Space and Missile Systems Organization was activated to replace the Space Systems Directorate, which was officially inactivated on 1 July 1967, however it was redesignated as the Space Division on 1 October 1979, and assumed its old title of the Space Systems Division on 15 March 1989.
During the 1970s and 1980s it also developed the Peacekeeper missile. This missile development and research assisted the fledgling space programs of both the Air Force and NASA. It modified previously developed missiles to become the Thor, Atlas, and Titan space launch vehicles. SMC also developed entirely new launch vehicles, such as the Scout and Delta rockets.
On 1 July 1992, the Space Systems Division was redesignated as the Space and Missile Systems Center, and moved into the newly created Air Force Material Command. On 1 October 2001 it was transferred into Air Force Space Command, where it stayed until 20 December 2019, when it became a command of the United States Space Force...
The Space and Missile Systems Center, a subordinate unit of Air Force Space Command, is the center of technical excellence for developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining military space systems. SMC's mission is to deliver resilient and affordable space capabilities. The center is responsible for on-orbit check-out, testing, sustainment and maintenance of military satellite constellations and other Department of Defense space systems.
SMC is headquartered at Los Angeles AFB in El Segundo, Calif. The center employs an estimated 6,300 people including military, civilians and contractors at LAAFB and other locations worldwide...
SMC's first predecessor organization was the Western Development Division of the Air Research and Development Command . WDD was created under then-Brigadier General Bernard A. Schriever in July 1954 to develop the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile . ARDC added the responsibility for developing the first military satellite system to the division's original mission in October 1955. By the end of 1962, the organization had already developed, produced, and deployed three first-generation missiles--Atlas, Titan I, and Thor--and before the decade was over, it had added the Titan II and Minuteman I, II, and III ICBMs to America's arsenal. It developed the Peacekeeper ICBM during the late 1970s and 1980s.
To launch the satellites it was developing, the organization modified Thor, Atlas, and Titan missiles and added new upper stages to make them more capable and reliable. It also developed new space launch vehicles such as the Scout and Titan III. These launch vehicles were used not only by DoD, but also by NASA. When Space Shuttle flights were temporarily suspended following the loss of the orbiter Challenger in January 1986, SMC's organizational predecessors developed newer versions of the Titan, Atlas, and Delta launch vehicles...
