66 years ago today at Cape Canaveral's Pad 18A, Vanguard TV-3 failed seconds after liftoff. It was viewed as a national embarrassment, after two Soviet Sputnik launches.
"TV" is short for Test Vehicle. it was not an "official" launch, but it did have an inert six-pound ball as a dummy payload. If that completed an orbit, it would have been the first U.S. satellite. (1/x)
The Vanguard TV-3 failure opened the door for Wernher von Braun and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency to launch an improvised satellite called Explorer 1, from Pad 5 on January 31, 1958. This is an ABMA recreation of that event.
Had TV-3 not failed, von Braun probably doesn't have the chance to orbit a satellite, make history, and become an American hero. (2/x)
Launch Complex 18 was abandoned long ago, but the remnants are still there. These are a few photos I took of Pad 18A and the blockhouse back in 2012. Back then, you could still see faint scorch marks on the concrete where the Vanguard rockets launched.
Fun fact ... The oldest human-made object in orbit is Vanguard 1, launch March 17, 1958. It should remain in orbit into the 2100s. (3/3)
