EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About the First Titan IIIC Payload!

Article

“EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About the First Titan IIIC Payload!” by Joel W. Powell
Published in Quest Volume: 28 #2 (2021)

Abstract

In an era when newspapers were still a primary source of information for the general public, the symbolic “payload” of the first Titan IIIC rocket launched on 18 June 1965 was actually the Patrick Air Force Base newspaper. The front-page story of the 11 June issue of The Missileer was, of course, the first planned Titan IIIC launch (designated Test 0449) from nearby Cape Kennedy, Florida. The maiden launch of a rocket is often conducted with a mass simulator in lieu of an operational payload, and the first Titan IIIC carried only a load of lead ballast.

Citation

Powell, Joel W. “EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About the First Titan IIIC Payload!” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 28, no. 2 (2021): 56-58.