U.S. Rocket Blows Up (1962)

After nearly a year's delay posed by its liquid hydrogen fuel, the mighty Centaur is on its path to keep Canaveral for a maiden flight. It is to be boosted into space by an Atlas for a 15-minute flight, a flight schedule to study the performance of the temperamental hydrogen fuel. A Centaur is designed to put a payload of more than a ton on the moon, or a thousand pounds in the vicinity of Mars or Venus. The first few seconds of the chute go without incident. The Centaur climbs to 30,000 feet, then, malfunction. The immediate cause of the explosion is not known, but if it happened in the Atlas booster, it means a probable delay for the next U.S. orbital flight by astronaut Malcolm Carpenter. Long lens cameras capture pieces of the wrecked missile falling into the sea, falling like

a wounded bird. However, in the race for space, scientists find progress in every failure.