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by Andrew J. Stofan
Lewis Research Center
Cleveland, Ohio 44135
Andrew J. Stofan
Manager, Titan/Centaur Project Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Lewis Research Center
Cleveland, Ohio
Abstract
Titan/Centaur is NASA's last "new-expendable" The effort to integrate the Titan with the
launch vehicle prior to the advent of the Space Centaur began in the mid-sixties. NASA-Lewis Re-
Shuttle. Titan/Centaur is an adaptation of the search Center studies were conducted to define an
in Air Force Titan III booster with an improved ver- Improved Centaur vehicle and to integrate the Cen-
o sion of the Centaur stage and a new 4.2 meters (14 taur w i t h the USAF Titan III booster. This devel-
in feet) payload f a i r i n g . Titan/Centaur is i n i t i a l l y opment was undertaken because NASA recognized the
r- being used for high performance escape missions need to f i l l a performance and cost gap between the
i
W (Helios Solar Probe - 340 kilograms (750 pounds), Atlas/Centaur and Saturn launch vehicles. The
V i k i n g Mars Orbiter and Lander - 3,629 kilograms unique c a p a b i l i t i e s of the Titan/Centaur, which
(8,000 pounds), and Mariner Jupiter/Saturn Fly-Bys provide a high energy restartable upper stage, f i l l
at 771 kilograms (1,700 pounds)) but is also partic- the need for a launch vehicle capable of delivering
ularly suited for larger spacecraft in synchronous larger and heavier payloads to interplanetary tra-
orbits (transfer - 7,031 kilograms (15,500 pounds) jectories and synchronous orbits.
and equatorial-, with three Cuntaur burns - 3,175
kilograms (7,000 pounds)). The program which began In the late sixties a contract was awarded to
in 1965 with internal NASA f e a s i b i l i t y studies w i l l General Dynamics' Convair Aerospace D i v i s i o n to de-
culminate in a "Proof Flight" launch in early 1974. velop an Improved Centaur v e h i c l e that would be
W i t h the new payload f a i r i n g , which also encloses adaptable to Atlas and Titan boosters. It would
Centaur, paylosds of nearly 8.5 meters (28 feet) contain such new features as advanced electronics
long and 3.8 meters (12-1/2 feet) in diameter can designed into an integrated astrionics system, mod-'
be accommodated. ulorized software, and mechanical modifications to
increase r e l i a b i l i t y and operational f l e x i b i l i t y .
C u l m i n a t i n g over five years of intensive plan- The Martin Marietta Corporation, Denver D i v i s i o n ,
ning, engineering, development, testing, launch during this same period, conducted studies for NASA
site modifications, and hardware fabrication, to integrate the Titan III booster with the Im-
NASA's proof f l i g h t of the Titan/Centaur launch proved Centaur and to investigate what modifica-
vehicle is rapidly approaching. tions to the Titan launch f a c i l i t y at the Eastern
Test Range would be required to checkout and launch
the Titan/Centaur.
Introduction
The next major events occurred rapidly, begin-
A l i t t l e over a decade ago the Centaur program ning in 1969, w i t h the NASA decision to proceed
pioneered the use of h i g h energy vehicles fueled with the V i k i n g mission and selection of the Titan/
w i t h l i q u i d oxygen and l i q u i d hydrogen. Centaur Centaur as the launch vehicle. Thus, the advent
has flown successfully with the Atlas booster de- of the V i k i n g program gave the impetus to proceed
l i v e r i n g payloads to earth orbit, synchronous with the Titan/Centaur development program. Over-
transfer orbit, and lunar and planetary trajec- all management r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for the Titan/Centaur
tories . program was assigned to the NASA-Lewis Research
Center. Subsequently, a series of agreements be-
The earlier version of Centaur has been im- tween NASA and the USAF established the ground
proved and integrated with the modified Atlas rules for management of the Titan booster for NASA
booster. This Atlas/Improved Centaur launch ve- missions.
h i c l e system proved itself A p r i l 5, 1973, by
placing the Pioneer 11 spacecraft on the proper In 1970 the Lockheed M i s s i l e s and Space Com-
trajectory to the planet Jupiter. The Improved pany, Inc. was awarded a contract to develop the
Centaur is currently being integrated with the Centaur Standard Shroud. The shroud system is
United States Air Force (USAF) Titan III booster being developed to meet both the Centaur and Viking
and a new shroud system. The configuration of spacecraft requirements Curing ground and f l i g h t
this new Titan/Centaur launch vehicle is shown in operations.
Figure 1. The overall length is 48.8 meters (160
feet) with a total lift-off weight of 6.4 X IflS The culmination of the development effort w i l l
kilograms (1.4 X 10° pounds). The Titan/Centaur be the Proof Flight of the Titan/Centaur launch
w i l l be used to launch operational payloads such vehicle in the first quarter of 1974. This flight
as Helios, a joint undertaking between NASA and w i l l demonstrate not only the capability to support
the Federal Republic of Germany Space Agency to missions such as V i k i n g , but also demonstrate the
investigate space near the sun; V i k i n g , a combi- capability for three-burn Centaur synchronous or-
nation Martian orbiter and lander, and Mariner bit missions.
Jupiter/Saturn, a fly-by of these planets.
Centaur Stage Description packages: the Systems Electronic Unit (SEU) and
the Inertial Reference Unit (IRU). The SEU con-
The Improved Centaur (Figure 2), is being de- tains filters, power supplies, and mode control
veloped by General Dynamics' Convair Aerospace Di- relays for the IRU. The IRU contains a four gimbal
vision. It incorporates design changes necessary all-attitude stable platform. Three gyros stabi-
to meet new mission requirements and to incorporate lize this platform on which are mounted three
certain redundancy and r e l i a b i l i t y improvements. pulse-rebalanced accelerometers. The IMG, in con-
junction with the DCU, performs the navigation and
The Centaur uses l i q u i d hydrogen and liquid guidance functions for the Titan/Centaur vehicle
oxygen as the propellants. These are contained in and also performs the flight control for the Cen-
pressure-stabilized thin wall tanks. The propel - taur phase of flight. During the Titan boost phase
lant tanks are separated by a vacuum-insulated of flight, guidance steering commands are provided
common bulkhead. A newly designed equipment module by the Centaur guidance system to the Titan flight
mounted on the forward end of Centaur provides for control system.
the support of the electronic and guidance equip-
ment. The flight software is modularized Into several
special purpose subroutines that operate under the
Increased Centaur coast (up to 5-lA hours), control of a real time executive program. The ex-
to provide improved synchronous orbit capability, ecutive calls on subroutines to perform various
is obtained by adding an aluminized mylar radia- tasks such as guidance and navigation, sequencing
tion shield to the hydrogen tank sidewalls. Radi- telemetry, attitude control, and propellant mixture
ation shielding and insulation have been added to ratio management. This results in a flexible sys-
cover the exposed portions of the aft and forward tem readily adaptable to new missions through soft-
ends of the Centaur tanks. ware rather than hardware changes.
Vehicle thrust is provided by two Pratt and The Centaur pulse code modulation telemetry
Whitney Aircraft Corporation engines developing system is a time d i v i s i o n multiplexed system con-
66,720 newtons (15,000 pounds) thrust each. The trolled by the DCU. Remote multiplexer units pro-
Centaur tank pressurization and venting systems vide a convenient means for handling Centaur in-
were modified to incorporate redundancy features strumentation.
and are controlled by the Centaur computer. Re-
l i a b i l i t y improvements were made to the hydraulic Prelaunch checkout of the Centaur is accom-
system which provides the necessary force to gimbal plished using a ground computer called the Computer
the Centaur engines in response to guidance com- Controlled Launch Set (CCLS). The CCLS functions
mands. The hydrogen-peroxide system for the pro- include calibration and alignment of the inertial
pellant boost pumps and attitude control engines measurement group, loading and verifying storage
has been redesigned to incorporate redundancy of Centaur computer programs, and testing of elec-
features. Attitude control and propellant set- tronic systems.
tling thrust are provided by 26.7 newtons (6
pounds) thrust hydrogen-peroxide engines mounted
on the vehicle aft bulkhead. The engine arrange- Titan/Centaur Booster
ment, in conjunction with the Centaur computer
software, can maintain vehicle stability in the The Titan/Centaur booster, designated Titan
event of a single engine failure. I I IE, is being developed from the family of Titan
III vehicles in use by the Air Force since 19&1*.
The Centaur updated astrionics system, shown The Titan I I IE is a modified version of the Titan
in Figure 3, integrates many former hardware func- MID. Modifications were made to the Titan to ac-
tions into the airborne computer software. Guid-r cept steering commands and discretes from the Cen-
ance and control are accomplished using a newly taur inertial guidance system instead of a radio
developed Centaur D i g i t a l Computer Unit (DCU) b u i l t guidance system. In addition, a redundant program-
by Teledyne Systems Company. This computer is an mer and sequence system were added. The Titan
advanced, high speed d i g i t a l computer with exten- I I IE, illustrated in Figure 't, consists of two
sive input and output capabilities. From the DCU, solid rocket motors designated Stage 0 and the
discrete signals are provided to the Sequence Con- Titan III core vehicle Stages I and II.
trol Unit (SCU) . The SCU provides the necessary
interface between the OCU and the vehicle systems The two Solid Rocket Motors (SRM's) provide a
that require switched and/or timed commands. En- thrust of 10.6 m i l l i o n newtons (2.1* m i l l i o n pounds)
gine steering commands go to the Servo Inverter at Iift7off. These motors, b u i l t by United Tech-
Unit (SIU). The SIU contains four servo-amplifiers. nology Center, use propellants which are basically
Each amplifier operates in conjunction with the aluminum and ammonium perchlorate in a synthetic
hydraulic system to gimbal the engines. The SIU rubber binder. Flight control during the Stage 0
also contains the electronics for the propellant phase of flight is provided by a Thrust Vector
utilization system and an inverter which supplies Control (TVC) system in resp'onse to commands from
vehicle ac power. Electrical power is provided by the Titan flight control computer. Nitrogen te-
battery. Up to three batteries can be used to troxide injected into the SRM nozzle through TVC
meet expanded mission requirements. valves deflects the thrust vector to provide con-
trol . Pressurized tanks attached to each solid
A stable platform and its electronics unit rocket motor supply the thrust vector control
make up the Honeywell, Inc. Inertia! Measurement fluid. Electrical systems on each SRM provide
Group (IMG). The IMG measures acceleration and power for the TVC system.
provides a time reference for the OCU to make nav-
igational computations. The IMG consists of two Titan core Stages I and II are b u i l t by the
Martin Marietta Corporation. The Stages I and II
propellant tanks are constructed of welded aluminum The Titan telemetry system is an S-band fre-
panels and domes while interconnect ing skirts use quency, pulse code modulation/frequency modulation
.conventional aluminum shoot ;md strlncjnr construc- (PCM/FM) system consisting of one control converter
tion. The Stage II forward skirt provides the jnd remote multiplexer units. The PCM format Is
attach point for the Cuntaur stage and also houses reprogrammable.
a truss structure supporting most of the Titan I I IE
electronics. A thermal barrier was added to iso- Many of the modifications to the Titan for
late the Titan 11 IE electronics compartment from Titan/Centaur were made to incorporate redundancy
the Centaur engine compartment. and r e l i a b i l i t y improvements. In addition to those
modifications previously mentioned, a fourth retro-
Stages I and I I are both powered by l i q u i d rocket was added to Stage I I in order to ensure
rocket engines made by the Aerojet Liquid Rocket proper Titan/Centaur separation if one motor does
Company. Propellants for both stages are nitrogen not fire. All redundancy modifications to Titan
tetroxide and a 50/50 combination of hydrazine and II IE utilized Titan f l i g h t proven components. This
unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine. The Stage I en- feature, coupled with the large degree of common-
gine consists of dual thrust chambers and turbo- a l i t y between the various configurations of the
pumps producing 2.3 m i l l i o n newtons (520,000 pounds) Titan, retains for the Titan HIE the proven reli-
thrust at altitude. a b i l i t y of the Titan family.
Independent gimballing of the two thrust cham- Additional detaiIs of the Titan III family may
bers, using a conventional hydraulic system, pro- be found in Reference 1.
vides control in pitch, yaw, and roll during Stage
I flight. The Stage II engine is a single thrust
chamber and turbopump producing ^5,000 newtons Centaur Standard Shroud
(100,000 pounds) thrust at altitude. The thrust
chamber gimbals for f l i g h t control in pitch and The Centaur Standard Shroud is a jettisonable
yaw and the turbopump exhaust duct rotates to pro- fairing designed to protect the Centaur vehicle and
vide roll control during Stage II f l i g h t . its payloads for a variety of space missions. It
is currently under development by Lockheed Missiles
The Titan HIE f l i g h t control system is il- and Space Company, Inc. and NASA-Lewis Research
lustrated in block diagram form in Figure 5. The Center. The Centaur Standard Shroud, as shown in
f l i g h t control computer provides pitch, yaw, and Figure 6, consists of three major segments: a pay-
roll commands to the solid rocket motor's thrust load section, a tank section, and a boattail sec-
vector control system and the Stages 1 and 1 I hy- tion. The <4.27 meters (I1) feet) diameter of the
draulic actuators. The flight control computer shroud was selected to accommodate the Viking
receives attitude signals from the three-axis ref- spacecraft requirements. The separation joints
erence system which contains three displacement sever the shroud into clamshell halves.
gyros. Vehicle attitude rates in pitch and yaw
are provided by the rate gyro system located in The shroud basic structure is a ring stiffened
Stage I. In addition, the f l i g h t control computer aluminum and magnesium shell. The Cylindrical sec-
generates preprogrammed pitch and yaw signals, tions are constructed of two light gage aluminum
provides signal conditioning, f i l t e r i n g and gain sheets. The outer sheet is longitudinally corru-
changes, and controls the dump of excess thrust gated for stiffness. The sheets are joined by spot
vector control f l u i d . With the addition of the welding through an epoxy adhesive bond. Sheet
Centaur inertia! guidance system interface, a roll splices, ring attachments, and field joints employ
axis interface was added to provide a variable conventional rivet and bolted construction. The
f l i g h t azimuth capability for planetary launches. bi-conic nose is a semi-monocoque magnesium-thorium
The Centaur computer provides steering programs single skin s h e l l . The nose dome is stainless
for Stage 0 wind load relief and guidance steering steel. The boattail section accomplishes the tran-
for Titan Stages I and II. sition from the k.27 meters (14 feet) shroud diam-
eter to the 3.05 meters (10. feet) Centaur inter-
A f l i g h t programmer provides timing for f l i g h t stage adapter. The boattail is constructed of a
control programs, gain changes, and other discrete ring stiffened aluminum sheet conical shell having
events. A staging timer provides acceleration- external riveted hat section stiffeners.
dependent discretes for Stage I ignition and timed
discretes for other events keyed to staging events. The Centaur Standard Shroud modular concept
The flight programmer and staging timer, operating permits installation of the tank section around the
in conjunction with a relay package and enable- Centaur independent of the payload section. The
disable circuits, comprise the electrical sequenc- payload section is installed around the spacecraft
ing system. On Titan I I IE a second programmer, in a special clean room, after which the encapsu-
relay package, and other circuits were added to lated spacecraft is transported to the launch pad
provide redundancy. Also, interfaces were added for installation on the Centaur.
with the Centaur and Centaur Standard Shroud for
staging and shroud jettison. The lower section of the shroud provides in-
sulation for the Centaur l i q u i d hydrogen tank dur-
The Titan uses three batteries: one for ing propellant tanking and prelaunch ground hold
flight control and sequencing, one for telemetry operations. This section has seals at each end
which close off the volume between the Centaur
and instrumentation, and one for ordnance. On
Titan 11 IE separate redundant Range safety command tanks and the shroud. A helium purge Is required
system batteries were added to satisfy Range re- to prevent formation of ice in this volume.
quirements.
The shroud provides a protective shol) around a Solid Motor Assembly B u i l d i n g (SMAB); Launch Com-
the Centaur and pay load and protects thorn from air plexes ^0 and 41, and a double-track locomotive
loads and temperatures In excess of !>05 degrees system which transports tho mated Titan core and
Kelvin C450 degrees Fahrenheit) as tho vehicle Centaur vehicle from the VIB through the SMAB to
rises through the earth's atmosphere. Shroud in- Launch Complex 41.
sulation is as shown in Figure 7-
The Titan, Centaur, and Centaur portion of the
The shroud Is separated from the Titan/Centaur shroud are erected and mated in the VIB on a mobile
during Titan Stage II f l i g h t . Jettison is accom- transporter/umbilical mast structure. Attached to
plished when an electrical command from the Centaur the transporter are three vans housing launch con-
initiates the separation system detonation. Redun- trol and monitoring equipment which remain connect-
dant dual explosive cords are confined in a flat- ed to the transporter and vehicle throughout the
tened steel tube which lies between two notched receipt-to-launch sequence. Upon completion of in-
plates around the circumference of the shroud near tegrated tests in the V I B , the assembled Titan and
the base and up the sides of the shroud to the nose Centaur are moved on the transporter to the SMAB.
dome. The pressure produced by the explosive cord After the SRM's and core stages are structurally
detonation expands the flattened tubes, breaking mated, the vehicle is moved to the launch complex.
the two notched plates and separating the shroud A mobile service structure provides access to all
into two halves (Figure 8) . vehicle stages. An environmental enclosure pro-
vides protection for the Centaur and the space-
To ensure r e l i a b i l i t y , two completely redundant craft. The spacecraft prelaunch operations include
electrical and explosive systems are used. If the checkout and encapsulation in the payload section
first system should fail to function, the second is of the shroud and mating of the encapsulated space-
automatically activated as a backup w i t h i n one half craft to Centaur at the launch complex. The pro-
second. cessing of the elements of the launch vehicle from
receipt to launch is shown in Figure 11.
Four base-mounted, coil-spring thrusters force
each of the two severed shroud sections to pivot Modifications at the ITL to support the Titan/
about hinge poipts at the base of the shroud. Af- Centaur and spacecrafts included addition of Cen-
ter rotating approximately 60 degrees, each shroud taur propellant and gas services, expansion of
half separates from its hinges and continues to electrical power and air conditioning, and addition
fall back and away from the launch vehicle. The of launch control monitoring equipment. Modifica-
entire separation sequence occurs in a period of tions were made to handle and to give access to the
about four seconds. Titan/Centaur vehicle and the spacecraft. The Com-
puter Controlled Launch Set (CCLS), discussed pre-
The Centaur Standard Shroud provides a large, viously, is physically located at Launch Complex
environmentally protected volume for the space- 36. The CCLS supports both the Atlas/Centaur and
craft. An envelope of the volume available to the Titan/Centaur programs.
spacecraft is illustrated in Figure 9.
Launch Schedule
CENTAUR
STANDARD
SHROUD
EQUIPMENT MODULE x-GUI DANCE, CONTROL.
CENTAUR - POWER. TELEMETRY,
UMBILICAL PANEL,
RANGE SAFETY
^-LIQUID
RADIATION HYDROGEN
TITAN STAGE II
SHIELD TANK
-INTERMEDIATE
BULKHEAD
ATTITUDE — LIQUID
CONTROL OXYGEN
ENGINES — TANK
•TITAN STAGE I HELIUM
BOTTLE-
DISCRETES ENGINE
STAGE II STAGE I
3L05MDIAM SOLID ROCKET MOTORS ' L°5 M DIAM r THRUST VECTOR
I (10 FT) \ CONTROL TANK
ATTITUDE
SIGNALS
3- AXIS
GUIDANCE STEERING PROGRAMMED
REFERENCE
STEERING
SYSTEM
ATTITUDE
STAGING RATE-GYRO RATES
TIMER SYSTEM
SEQUENCE FLIGHT COMMANDS
COMPUTER CONTROL CONTROLS —- > STAGES
UNIT COMPUTER 0, I. & II
* FLIGHT
DISCRETES DISCRETES
PROGRAMMER
A
DISCRETES RELAY
PACKAGES
DISCRETES FLIGHT
DISCRETES
PROGRAMMER
B
O DISCRETES TO
m ORDNANCE, ENGINES, ETC
r^
i
W
Figure 5. - Titan HIE flight control system.
A
r 1l
\ \
17. 8 M (58. 5 FT)
OVERALL LENGTH
\
/
1
lit-— LONGITUDINAL
PAYLOAD *-jj!J SEPARATION
crrTIHM
JLU 1 1 UIN
i_I' JOINT
I
); ~--427MDIAM
(14 FT)
j
cs.59291
TPTI AM
btt II UN
-u s
^CIRCUMFERENTIAL
SEPARATION JOINT
METAL
RADIATION SHIELCK
FIBER
GLASS BLANKETS-.
CS-59286
^-CENTAUR AFT PURGE SEAL
STAINLESS
STEEL TUB
REDUNDANT
DETONATOR CORDS IN
SILICONS RUBBER INSERTS
SEPARATION
DOUBLER
PLATE:
>s
BEFORE AFTER
FIRING FIRING
in
o
m
r-
i
W LAUNCH COMPLEX 41
LAUNCH COMPLEX 40
SOLID MOTOR
ASSEMBLY BLDG
(SMAB)
VERTICAL INTEGRATION
SEGMENT READY BLDG(VIB)
STORAGE BLDG
WAREHOUSE
AND OFFICE
SEGMENT ARRIVAL
STORAGE(SAS)
• SEGMENT RECEIPT MOTOR INERT
STORAGE BLDG
INSPECTION BLDG(RIS)
(MIS)
TITAN CORE
at
CLT t
SOLID MOTORS & "™^ *W&
css , 505 (VERTICAL (SOLIDMOTOR COMPLEX 41
INTEGRATION ASSY BLDG)
BLDG)
TRANSFER
ORBIT
20000
>r 10000
r; 8000
ea
2 6000
3 4000
in
o
in
r~ 2000
i
W
1000
800
600
400
10 12 14 16 18
CHARACTERISTIC VELOCITY, KM/SEC
TITAN/
CENTAUR
SEPARATION ft
CENTAUR PRESTART
EVENTS
END
CENTAUR
MISSION
MEC02
PROOF FLIGHT V
MARINER 77 (JUPITER/SAT) *T
MARINER 79 (JUPITER/URANUS) W
m *PIONEER SATURN V
o
«COMET ENCKE FLYBY V
W
'REQUIRES SPIN-STABILIZED T APPROVED
TE-364-4 STAGE V PROPOSED
NASA-Lewis