Atlas missile 51D's launch, test number 775 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. View of Atlas 51D take off from launch pad. Large explosion soon after few seconds of its launch. (Note: This missile suffered combustion instability in one engine. The Range Safety officer sent the destruct command only a few seconds after launch and it fell back through the launch stand and exploded. LC-13 took extensive damage and was out of use for six months.)
Vehicle drives past on road. Man walks up to a telephone and speaks over it. Titan missile in the service structure erector. Technicians discuss the flight launch. Yellow warning light blinks on top of the blockhouse.
Titan missile in service structure erector. Removal of service structure erector from the missile. Titan Missile takes off from the launch pad. Programmed flight of Titan Missile.
Titan missile in service structure erector. The Missile takes off from the launch pad. Four field cameras hooked together on a tripod.
Titan missile in service structure erector. Technicians work around missile at various levels of service structure erector.
Views of what appears to be a smooth launching of a Titan missile. The service structure erector is released and the missile takes off. The camera tracks it as it moves ever higher, with rocket motors burning smoothly. As its image begins to get quite small in the distance, at TC:01:26, the missile begins failing, and explodes in a huge fireball. (Note: This was Missile C-4, the ninth Titan I launch and the second Lot C missile. The guidance compartment collapsed from aerodynamic stress 52 seconds into launch, causing missile pitch down followed by Range Safety destruct. The falling object is the second stage, which separated intact and inadvertently began firing. With no attitude control, it tumbled end over end until shutting down from propellant starvation and impacting the ocean several miles downrange.) This was Missile C-4, the ninth Titan I launch and the second Lot C missile. The guidance compartment collapsed from aerodynamic stress 52 seconds into launch, causing missile pitch down followed by Range Safety destruct. The falling object is the second stage, which separated intact and inadvertently began firing. With no attitude control, it tumbled end over end until shutting down from propellant starvation and impacting the ocean several miles downrange.