VANGUARD ROCKET BURNS ON BEACH;

FAILURE TO LAUNCH TEST SATELLITE

ASSAILED AS BLOW TO U. S. PRESTIGE

SPHERE SURVIVES

But Carrier Rises Only

2 to 4 Feet Before

Flames Wreck It

Excerpts from transcript ofnews conference , Page .

By MILTON BRACKERSpecial to The New York Times .

COCOA BEACH , Fla ., Dec. 6

-The rocket bearing the UnitedStates test satellite burst intoflame and was almost consumed

on Cape Canaveral beach this

morning two seconds after firing. It had risen two to four feet

The seventy two-foot Vanguard vehicle - only forty - fiveinches in diameter at its widest

point- was wrecked by a greatfiery billow of flames nearlytwice as high as the rocketitself.

Surprisingly, the satellite

bearing third stage, embeddedin the nose of the second stage,survived the crash of the rocket.It was thrown clear.

However , itwill not be usable ,said J. Paul Walsh , deputy director of Project Vanguard .

Associated Press Wirephoto ( U. S. Navy ) Satellite Undamaged

MISFIRE : Nose cone starts to fall to right as the rocket burns. Stand is at the left. Even more remarkably , thesatellite itself - weighing barely

four pounds , and about the size

of a grapefruit or softball

undamaged[ In Washington , Dr. John

P. Hagen , chief of ProjectVanguard , said that the failure of the rocket was "un

doubtedly a failure of someindividual part" rather thanone of design .Mr. Walsh said that the satel

lite had continued to send out

its radio signals by its two

transmitters . Technicians would

have to open the satellite to turnoff the transmitters he, ex

plained .The Department of Defense,

in a brief statement, said that

the launching was "not successful and the rocket burned on the

pad. ” The statement used the

verb " exploded, noting that all

fires had been extinguished and

all personnel was safe

Although it wastwo seconds , the rocket's tele

metering system its second

stage functioned for that period .The data it transmitted , Mr.

Walsh said , were stuff worthits weight in gold ."

Data to Be StudiedThese amounting to

hundreds of items will takeseveral days to evaluate , according to Mr.Walsh and ElliottFelt, operations manager forthe Martin Company of Baltimore, primary contractor on theVanguard rocket.

Mr. Felt, whose demeanor indicated he felt the disaster

keenly, interposed that whatwe know is the end of chainof events and we are trying to

find out what happened — whatcaused it."

Although Mr. Walsh and asso

ciates repeatedly mentioned lossof thrust in describing therocket disaster , they also saidseveral times that the causecould not necessarily be attributed to any phase of the

Continued on Page 8 , Column 3

The NewYork TimesPublished: December 7 , 1957

Copyright © The New York Times

BURNS ON BEACH

counting the final moments . stages of the rocket but none menthad tested all three as an oper- .There was a series of felt by thousands of Moreno, from Medellin, whowas spending his vacation in

The rocket losing thrust be ative unit . Today would have the flames billowed the area, on incredulouscause of lowered pressure in the been the first time the second high on Cape Canaveral, site of ly and asked a Spanish -first stage ignition chamber , stage, containing the control the Air Force missile test center ing friend Que pasótoppled and collapsed jn flame. system , had been tested in alti- a few miles from this beach " Fracaso, " replied the friend

From Page 1" The first thing I think I tude. It had been

given a community, people looked first sadly .

said to him , " Walsh said " static" test--that is tied down shocked then grieved. That meant failure.launching operation As Mr. quietly , was " explosion ." to the pad.

On the Bana River bridge After Wednesday's postponeWalsh put it, something hap- What did Dr. Hagen say ? The first stage of the Van- from Merritt Island, anglers ment, indications had been yespened. We don't know what.” He said nothing," Mr. guard is fueled by liquid oxygen shook their heads went terday that the three- stage

Mr. Walsh also said that the Walsh and . These are fed to back to their fishing with less Vanguard would be launchedflames had damaged the launch- Later Mr. Walsh said there the rocket motor by turbine- joy the . Merritt Island shortly after daylight thising pad, which is the only one was some doubt that the dis driven pumps. Ordinarily, children who hadexult- morning. 1 A. M. the officialcapable of handling the Van ought to be technically tion would cause a seething jet atother successful launch - down began ; technically ,

guard vehicle . described as an explosion . Heings seemed perplexed.

of to shoot down from On the beaches were thou 1 A. M. 420, or 420 minThe Vanguard crew. has an- substituted " rapid burning .

Mr. Walsh said he could not the rocket and, with a thrust of sands of dollars worthof photo- utesbeforethe pushing of theother vehicle in the Martin

ready to go, Mr. Walshupontheremainderof the Vanassessthe impact of the failure - seven thousand pounds , graphic equipment converged on firing .

start it into space . the site . Newcomers at rocketA brief hold, or delay ,

added . guard program, which was orig Like the first stage, the sec- watching could not believe what curred for control adjustments ..

Spectators on near -by beaches inally announced at the White ond stageuseda liquid propel- theysaw . They the big at about 3A.lant .

gasped in awe and dismay as House on July 29, 1955. It was This comprised white flame meant the start of the At 6:30 the launchingwas T -290, which would havethe orange blaze seethed uplaunching of a twenty -inch sat- Walsh , the other projects onzine .

have culminated in the fuming nitric acid and un- rocket's ascent.

symmetrical dimethyl-hydra observers disabused brought the firing to 11:20, andagainst a clear blue sky: With- ellite nextMarch, in connection at 7:40 the reading was T -220 ,

The second stage was them .

in seconds of the outburst, the with the InternationalGeophysi- the cape were continuing. intended to take over from the Down Highway A1A the meant the schedule was

flame changed to brown-black cal Year. Force Snark was suc- first at an altitude of thirty- staffs of the luxury maintained.At 8:45 on Cape Canaveral

smoke. This spread into The briefing was held less cessfully tested last night. And, five miles and a velocity of places with indicative names,thancrudely shaped mass that rap disaster. It took place briefing was

three hours after the Schooley said, while the3,700 an hour. such as the Sea Missile , the the big redball that signals anStarlite, and the Vanguard impending launching went up.

dissipated in the morning in the theatre at Patrick Air in progressPlanned Orbit

stopped It was as if It showed clearly against the

breeze Force Base, 'administration count -down had started toward The third stage, which was the region's pride had been de- soft blue sky streaked by occasional white clouds.

According to Plan headquarters of the Cape Can-the launching of an Air Force expected orbit with the satel- flated by the disaster.

averal test .At 11 o'clock the crowd on

cone hadBomarc. The Snark is . after the nose

Earlier as the scheduled firAt zero hour A. M. beaches had.

clamshell and ing neared, tensionhadmount- theWalsh was jauntily face to surface missile; Bomarc opened like a

everything had gone according dressed in sports clothes. Heis surface to fallen , was to taken edamong the spectators lining greatly, and all convergedon the sandy triangleof

to plan. The red and white appearedto be in good spirits The psychological and politi- at 300 miles and the sunny beach .

gantry had been retired; as he said: cal pressure the project, en- 8,500 miles an hour velocity In the last dozen minutes, that is the Air Force missilereal successful trusted to the Naval Research The third stage would have the scene seemd fixed in the center.

thecloud of vaporizing liquid operationinterms of keeping Laboratory , hasincreasedgreat- , through a solidpro- eyes of observers it hadA few minutes after 11 A. M.

oxygen wasforming properly things running smoothly. To- since the launching thepellant, per been described by otherswho a white trail ofat the junction of the first and ward the

tweenlittle Soviet satellitesonOct. 4 and cent the required hadseen itbefore withother streaked from themargin bethe first and secondsecond stages of the rocket. later this rocket was flying. Nov. 3 . velocity of 18,000 an hour. types of rockets

the seconds ticked Itwasn't a long flight but But Vanguard spokesmen ir This is required to balance an Then, when the atmosphere stages and vaporized off to the

was flying . "away , and the tension mounted . sisted the program object inspace between cen- seemed tranquil ,came theburst west thosewho hadwatched

sixty hour be Felton the stagewasHerschelsuccess. Today's launchinghad it up and away from the earth's first fora signofsuccess.Beside andMr. way been affected the Soviettrifugal force to push flame that many at before thisthat the firing was near .

At 11:15 the white smear offore firing, Mr. Walsh opened Schooley , chief of information never been described as other surface, and the pull ofgravitya telephone circuit direct to his of the Department of Defense.than a test , technically TV tending to drag it down

" , How Awful!" liquid oxygen began to show!" woman brownish black , but there waschief, Dr. Hagen in Washington . Mr. Schooley pointed out that, test 3. There had The scientific aspect of the said pressing a hand to her no way of knowing on the beach" I told him zero , fire, igni- despite the setbback to Van- previously been zero, one Vanguard failure could not ob- cheek when she was told of the whether this indicated troubletion " the youthful deputy chief guard and the damage to theand two . scure, in this missile center of failure.

said few hours later in re- launchingpad mentionedby Mr.And soon without warning

Each had tested a stage or the , the keen disappoint- Colombian lawyer, the disaster.

a

was a

The NewYork TimesPublished : December 7 , 1957

Copyright © The New York Times