Date
.
Sept. 15, 1961
The Department of Defense (DoD)
Research and Engineering Office requested the preliminary
study of a standardized space booster.
Dec.1961
The Air Force was given permission by
the administration to proceed with the development of a
powerful booster to be built on the technology of the Titan
II vehicle (Program 624A).
May 1962
The Air Force completed its Titan III
preliminary design effort and submitted a plan to
DoD.
Aug. 11, 1962
The development of Titan III was
authorized by DoD; the Air Force awarded Martin Marietta a
systems integration contract for the new vehicle.
Feb. 25, 1963
The Air Force awarded Martin Marietta
a contract to develop and manufacture the Titan III.
June 30, 1964
The Air Force accepted the first
Titan IIIA from the manufacturer.
Sept. 1, 1964
The launch of the first Titan IIIA
was not successful due to a third-stage malfunction.
Nov. 1964
It was revealed by an Air Force
official that studies conducted by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) and General Electric (GE) indicated that
the Titan IIIC vehicle would enhance Surveyor, Mariner, and
Voyager Mars landing missions.
Dec. 10, 1964
The first completely successful
launch of the Titan IIIA took place.
Feb. 1965
The Air Force announced its plans to
pair the Titan IIIC with the Centaur upper stage.
April 1965
DoD announced that it had awarded
Martin Marietta a contract for a "Titan III-X" series
vehicle. The standard Titan III would be redesigned to
accept a variety of up-per stages.
April-May 1965
The Air Force and the House of
Representatives, Committee on Science and Astronautics,
requested NASA to consider using the Titan IIIC as a backup
for its Surveyor project, but NASA officials replied that
current plans did not include the Air Force vehicle.
June 18, 1965
The first launch of a Titan IIIC took
place at the Eastern Test Range.
Sept. 1965
Air Force officials considered a
Titan IIID concept for the first time.
June 16, 1966
A Titan IIIC launched eight Air Force
satellites successfully.
July 29, 1966
The first launch of a Titan IIIB,
paired with an Agena D upper stage, took place.
Aug. 29, 1966
The Air Force awarded a study
contract for a Titan IIID to Martin Marietta.
June 26, 1967
NASA awarded a study contract to
Martin Marietta to determine the feasibility of using a
Titan-Centaur combination vehicle for agency
missions.
Nov. 1967
DoD announced that it would begin
procuring Titan IIID vehicles from Martin Marietta.
Jan. 26, 1968
Air Force and contractor officials
briefed high-ranking NASA officials on the Titan III
family.
Feb. 1968
Because of budget cuts that precluded
the development of a more powerful generation of vehicles or
the speedy development of a reusable launch vehicle, NASA
officials decided to use the Titan IIIC for sending probes
to the near planets.
June 11, 1968
NASA's Lewis Research Center awarded
Martin Marietta a contract for a Titan- Centaur integration
study.
Nov. 20, 1968
NASA awarded Martin Marietta a
follow-on (nine-month) Titan-Centaur study contract.
March 1969
Management of NASA's Titan IIIC and
Titan-Centaur projects was assigned to Lewis.
March 6, 1969
A project approval document (PAD) was
signed for the procurement of Titan IIIC for the
Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) project.
May 23, 1969
The last (17th) research and
development launch of the Titan III took place.
Sept. 1969
Lewis contracted with Martin Marietta
for a systems definition study for Titan- Centaur.
Oct. 30, 1969
Lewis awarded General
Dynamics/Convair a contract to design and build an improved
Centaur stage.
Feb. 6-7, 1970
A memorandum of understanding was
signed by NASA and the Air Force regarding NASA's use of the
Titan IIIC vehicle for ATS F and G.
July 10, 1970
A contract was awarded to General
Dynamics/Convair by NASA for the reconfiguration of the D-l
Centaur so that it would be compatible with the Titan IIIE,
NASA's version of the IIID.
June 15, 1971
The first launch of the Titan IIID
took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Nov. 30, 1971
A follow-on Centaur management and
support contract was awarded to General Dynamics/Convair to
provide engineering support to mate Centaur with Titan
IIIE.
May 30, 1973
NASA used Titan IIIC to launch ATS 6.
The Space & Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) of the
Air Force Systems Command served as the launch agency for
the mission. (ATS G, the other mission scheduled to use the
Titan IIIC, was cancelled on Jan. 5, 1973 because of
budgetary restraints placed on the agency.)
Sept. 24, 1973
Titan IllE-Centaur was rolled out on
the pad at the Kennedy Space Center for the first time. The
initial test flight was scheduled for Jan. 24, 1974, but
that date was later changed.
Feb. 11, 1974
The first test launch of Titan
IllE-Centaur (TC-I) was a partial failure due to the
malfunction of a liquid oxygen boost pump on the Centaur
stage. The upper stage was destroyed less than 13 minutes
after liftoff. Other objectives associated with the
integration of the two vehicles were accomplished. A dynamic
model of the Viking spacecraft and a Space Plasma High
Voltage Interaction Experiment were carried as payload
during the test. It was determined that a second proof
flight was not required.
Dec. 10, 1974
The successful launch of Helios I by
Titan IllE-Centaur took place.
Aug. 20, 1975
The successful launch of Viking I by
Titan IllE-Centaur took place.
Sept. 9, 1975
The successful launch of Viking 2 by
Titan IllE-Centaur took place.
Jan. 15, 1976
The successful launch of Helios 2 by
Titan IllE-Centaur took place.
Aug. 20, 1977
The successful launch of Voyager 2 by
Titan IllE-Centaur took place.
Sept. 5, 1977
The successful launch of Voyager I by
Titan IllE-Centaur took place.