[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-138027-en":3,"doc-seo-138027-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":98},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},138027,34359740700684,"Finn","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1f400023980c374ae676?_k=1777273430885731487",8,"Research & Report","Taming Liquid Hydrogen - the Centaur upper stage rocket, 1958-2002 - NASA History Series","Taming Liquid Hydrogen examines the Centaur upper stage rocket from its origins through its operational development and long-term legacy. The account begins with the May 1962 Atlas-Centaur failure, when liquid hydrogen spilled and ignited after a tank rupture, framing the technical and political challenges that followed. It traces debates over pressure-stabilized cryogenic design, key advocacy for liquid-hydrogen capability, and the program’s later survival and redesign amid changing launch-vehicle priorities.","Virginia P. Dawson and Mark D. Bowles  \nThe NASA History Series  \nNational Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of External Relations Washington, DC 20546 2004  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dawson, Virginia P. (Virginia Parker)  \nTaming liquid hydrogen : the Centaur upper stage rocket, 1958-2002 / Virginia P. Dawson, [Mark D. Bowles. p. cm](Mark D. Bowles. p. cm). (NASA-SP-2004-4230)  \nIncludes bibliographical references and index.  \n1. Centaur rocket—History. 2. Hydrogen as fuel—Research—United States—History. 3. Liquid propellant rockets—Research—United States—History. I. Bowles, Mark D. II. Title.  \nTL783 .4.D39 2004  \n621.43’56—dc21  \n2004042092  \nTable of Contents  \nIntroduction .................................................................iii  \nChapter 1: Centaur’s Origins in Atlas ............................................... 1  \nChapter 2: Marshall’s Unruly Wards ...............................................31  \nChapter 3: “Abe’s Baby” ........................................................59  \nChapter 4: Heavy Lift ......................................................... 103  \nChapter 5: The Giant Titan-Centaur .............................................139  \nChapter 6: Centaur Reborn .................................................... 167  \nChapter 7: Eclipsed by Tragedy .................................................. 189  \nChapter 8: Like a Phoenix .....................................................221  \nList of Interviews ............................................................255  \nAbout the Authors ...........................................................259  \nThe NASA History Series ......................................................261  \nIndex ......................................................................267  \nIntroduction iii  \nIntroduction  \nDuring its maiden voyage in May 1962, a Centaur upper stage rocket, mated to an Atlas booster, exploded 54 seconds after launch, engulfing the rocket in a huge fireball. Investigation revealed that Centaur’s light, stainless-steel tank had split open, spilling its liquid-hyd rogen fuel down its sides, where the flame of the rocket exhaust immediately ignited it. Coming less thana year after President Kennedy had made landing human beings on the Moon a national priority, the loss of Centaur was regarded as a serious setback for the National Ae ronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . During the failure investigation, Homer Newell, Director of Space Sciences, ruefully declared: “Taming liquid hydrogen to the point where expensive operational space missions can be committed to it has turned out to be more difficult than anyone supposed at the outset.”1  \nAfter this failure, Centaur critics, led by Wernher von Braun, mounted a campaign to cancel the program. In addition to the unknowns associated with liquid hydrogen, he objected to the unusual design of Centaur. Like the Atlas rocket, Centaur depended on pressure to keep its paperthin, stainless-steel shell from collapsing. It was literally inflated with its propellants like a football or balloon and needed no internal structure to give it added strength and stability. The so-called“pressure-stabilized structure” of Centaur, coupled with the light weight of its high-energy cryogenic propellants, made Centaur lighter and more powerful than upper stages that used conventional fuel. But, the critics argued, it would never become the reliable rocket that the United States needed.  \nOthers, especially military proponents of Centaur, believed that accepting the challenge of developing liquid-hydrogen technology was an important risk to take. Herbert York, Chief Scientist for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), had urged NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan to expedite the program in 1959 because Centaur was “the only vehicle that has the capability of meeting our payload requirements for high altitude orbits.”2 Six months after  \n1 U.S. House of Representa","cbCairVqXjl5qTLV","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairVqXjl5qTLV","pdf",1699185,7,1,308,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# Chapter 1: Centaur’s Origins in Atlas\n# Chapter 2: Marshall’s Unruly Wards\n# Chapter 3: “Abe’s Baby”\n# Chapter 4: Heavy Lift\n# Chapter 5: The Giant Titan-Centaur\n# Chapter 6: Centaur Reborn\n# Chapter 7: Eclipsed by Tragedy\n# Chapter 8: Like a Phoenix\n# List of Interviews\n# About the Authors\n# The NASA History Series\n# Index","[{\"question\":\"What was the outcome of Centaur’s first Atlas-Centaur launch in May 1962?\",\"answer\":\"The rocket exploded 54 seconds after launch, forming a large fireball. Investigation found the Centaur stainless-steel tank split, spilling liquid hydrogen that ignited from the rocket exhaust flame.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did critics oppose the Centaur program?\",\"answer\":\"Critics, led by Wernher von Braun, argued that liquid hydrogen uncertainties and Centaur’s unusual “pressure-stabilized structure” made it unlikely to become the reliable rocket the U.S. needed.\"},{\"question\":\"How did Centaur demonstrate the feasibility and gain later operational success?\",\"answer\":\"After early failures and intense debate, the program proved liquid hydrogen’s feasibility as a rocket fuel. Centaur went on to serve as an upper stage for major planetary missions in the 1970s and continued flying into the commercial era as the Atlas upper stage.\"}]","Taming Liquid Hydrogen - the Centaur upper stage rocket, 1958-2002 - NASA History Series | PDF",1787473243,776,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":93,"head_meta":95,"extra_data":97,"updated_unix":29},"taming-liquid-hydrogen-the-centaur-upper-stage-rocket-1958-2002-nasa-history-series","",{"@graph":37,"@context":92},[38,55,75],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,49,52],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":50,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":53,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":54},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/taming-liquid-hydrogen-the-centaur-upper-stage-rocket-1958-2002-nasa-history-series/138027/",4,{"url":53,"name":13,"@type":56,"image":57,"author":62,"headline":13,"publisher":64,"fileFormat":67,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":68,"datePublished":69,"encodingFormat":67,"isAccessibleForFree":70,"interactionStatistic":71},"DigitalDocument",{"url":58,"@type":59,"width":60,"height":61},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/taming-liquid-hydrogen-the-centaur-upper-stage-rocket-1958-2002-nasa-history-series/138027.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":9,"@type":63},"Person",{"url":42,"name":65,"@type":66},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-22","2026-08-23",true,{"@type":72,"interactionType":73,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":74},"ViewAction",{"@type":76,"mainEntity":77},"FAQPage",[78,84,88],{"name":79,"@type":80,"acceptedAnswer":81},"What was the outcome of Centaur’s first Atlas-Centaur launch in May 1962?","Question",{"text":82,"@type":83},"The rocket exploded 54 seconds after launch, forming a large fireball. Investigation found the Centaur stainless-steel tank split, spilling liquid hydrogen that ignited from the rocket exhaust flame.","Answer",{"name":85,"@type":80,"acceptedAnswer":86},"Why did critics oppose the Centaur program?",{"text":87,"@type":83},"Critics, led by Wernher von Braun, argued that liquid hydrogen uncertainties and Centaur’s unusual “pressure-stabilized structure” made it unlikely to become the reliable rocket the U.S. needed.",{"name":89,"@type":80,"acceptedAnswer":90},"How did Centaur demonstrate the feasibility and gain later operational success?",{"text":91,"@type":83},"After early failures and intense debate, the program proved liquid hydrogen’s feasibility as a rocket fuel. Centaur went on to serve as an upper stage for major planetary missions in the 1970s and continued flying into the commercial era as the Atlas upper stage.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":53,"og:type":94,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":65,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":96,"canonical":53},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":99},[100,104,108,112,117,122,126,129,134,137,141],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":48,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":54,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":125},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},30,"research-report",{"id":130,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":131,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":133},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":135,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":136},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":138,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":139,"show_sort_weight":138,"slug":140},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":142,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":143,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":144},19,"General","general"]