The Titan Rocket - From War Machine to Space Giant to Obsolescence

[@gregderise9969]

I was there for the Voyager 2 launch. It was a very sunny late Saturday morning. Being the weekend families of NASA workers and everybody else jammed the facility roads. Our tour bus got caught in the traffic jam, stopped 4 miles from the pad. Those solids burned so bright they looked like two suns, a stunning sight. Beautifully impressively spectacular! The sight of it is still frozen in my mind. Being an amateur astronomer it was especially meaningful to me. Now that it’s entered interstellar space and still phones home, I’m very happy to have experienced that historic moment. I went to Disney World the next day and by chance ended up in line s few people behind my toughest sister. The way the Titan Centaur launched was analogous to the Arianne 5. Great launch vehicle of the era. Voyager says it all. I had turned 26 a few weeks before Voyager left Earth. I’ll be 72 this summer.(😱). Long live both of us!

[@nicholashylton6857]

I'm so jealous! I was a little boy when the Voyagers were launched. When the first images were returned and I learned that they were launched on a Titan Centaur, I thought they were the greatest rockets ever. I watched James Burke's "Connections" over and over just to watch them blast off.

[@ronjon7942]

This is great, Greg! I really enjoyed reading this.

[@wtmayhew]

Thanks for sharing. It was the heyday for the Titan family with the two stunningly successful Voyager missions following close on the heels of the impressive Viking missions. It is good to see a rocket system great for the advancement of understanding our solar neighborhood and beyond evolve from something essentially intended to put an end to the word if it were put to its intended function.

[@scellowmcineka4087]

I enjoyed reading your comment, very interesting. Being born a year after the voyager 2 launch, I've always wondered how the people at that time felt witnessing a historic moment like that... Your story just took me there, I feel the atmosphere of that event💛

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

I wasn't there for anything

[@roberthumphrey1304]

I worked for Martin 58 thru 64. At Prince street I built and tested ground support equipment for the Titan I and Titan II. I worked site activation at T1,T3, T4 and T6. I was a ground control field engineer on the Titan I and the electrical engineer on the propellant loading team for the Titan II. I've been in the hole with many fueled birds. Thanks for the memories.

[@roberthumphrey1304]

I don't do telegram.

[@roberthumphrey1304]

I don't do telegram.

[@scottmanley]

@@roberthumphrey1304 ignore them, those are bots trying to scam you

[@leechjim8023]

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING!!!😮😮😮 OH YEAH, SHAKING AND QUAKING!!!😁😁🙃😵‍💫😋🤔😃😃

[@darrell9546]

It was James Burke (not Michael), host of the show Connections, where he timed the show's end sequence to the launch of the Titan rocket. Great moments in television.

[@laurenmp7486]

And for the curious, you can find it on youtube, just search for "greatest shot in television"

[@damnemail]

Connections, now known as Connections 1, is a must watch.

[@bobcastro9386]

And to think, my family was a few hundred yards northeast of Mr Burke on the same causeway watching that launch.

[@stringtheorysucks]

I remember watching that show. Absolutely loved it.

[@JonMartinYXD]

@@damnemail I cannot agree more. Connections will change the way you think about history, science, technology, where we came from and where we are going. The questions it asked actually become more relevant every passing year. It should be required viewing in high school.

[@jhggygh]

A note about the Titan 1, many of the first stages that survived being scrapped became "Titan 2" rockets for museums. They would basically take two first stages and stack them, repaint them, and add a fake Gemini capsule to the top of it. For example, first stages SM-92 and SM-94 make the fake Titan 2 at the Cosmosphere in Kansas.

[@dannypipewrench533]

I mean, 1 + 1 = 2. Titan 1 + Titan 1 = Titan 2.

[@Iamthelolrus]

Fun fact, the movie "Star Trek: First Contact" filmed scenes at the Titan missle Museum in pima County Az.

[@bobmerrill8849]

Thanks Scott, my Dad worked his entire career at Martins and Martin Marrietta in their Quality Lab and was the director when he retired in 1990. Of course, he was involved in Gemini and made several trips to the Cape to solve issues with Titan II prior to launch. He was involved in 1000s of various NASA and Air Force space launches, satellites, and deep space probes. However, the two that he was most proud of, even above the Apollo Lunar landings, were the Voyagers. He was directly involved in building the nuclear power supplies for both crafts. At his funeral service, I was able to say, "his work has flown, 'where no man, has gone before.'" Thank you for listing the Voyagers as your personal favorites.

[@pfrstreetgang7511]

Dad's always got to do cool stuff in the cold war.

[@seanscott3048]

Hey Scott - I manage what was the Titan Production facility, excited to share this video with the team! If you are ever in Denver look me up would love to have you come for a tour!

[@rugerthedog396]

Thanks for mentioning the Clementine program in this video. I shared an office with one of the engineers at a small company that built infrared sensors for Clementine, and the whole company was very proud of being a part of the project. It was very gratifying to see the vehicle go to the Moon on such a short, ambitious development schedule and see there resulting imagery. My office mate was extremely relieved after the last part of the mission was cut short by a spacecraft failure and we learned that the problem was a bad ground command sequence.Our sensors that she had worked long hours on was not the reason the mission didn't quite finish!

[@dr.brysonsfamilymedicine2453]

I was the QA/reliability guy for all the sensors at LLNL for Clementine. I am sure I was at your facility at some point during the IR sensor development and or testing. It worked great. Thanks

[@larrybush7350]

@@dr.brysonsfamilymedicine2453 I was Senior Field Engineer for both the Vehicle Assembly Building at Bldg 8401 VAFB and SLC-4W for launch processing, was a nice launch, got my first Remove Before Flight memento on that one.

[@hagerty1952]

We need to have a Clementine family reunion! I was at the launch, covering it for High Power Rocketry magazine, and I live only 2 miles down the road from LLNL. Small world!

[@WWeronko]

The Titan IVB was a fine looking and muscular rocket but beastly expensive. The Titan IVB launch was reported to cost $432 million in 1985 dollars. It is a very similar price for a space shuttle launch. With a LEO Payload 47,790 lb, Titan compared poorly to the Falcon 9 Block V with a payload to LEO 50,265 lb while SpaceX typically charging around $62 million of 2022 dollars. I would however have loved to seen the Titan launch both the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar and Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) as it was proposed.

[@donjones4719]

Wow. That's Delta IV Heavy expensive.

[@ronjon7942]

Well, sure, expensive, but we were young and needed the money. This guy - and others, of course, and that time is when the rocket engineering manuals and textbooks were rewritten and written, and that knowledge and experience made it through the timeline the leads right to the Falcon. I think it's fantastically incredible how SpaceX has hammered the costs down; it was an intersection of the right guy and a good time, and I don't believe anyone else would've upended the industry like he has. I have to imagine if that someone was anyone else, the pricing would be a lot closer to what Government was paying prior, making all that profit.

[@ATH_Berkshire]

That’s what low production volume and maintaining two complex launch pads with fully trained crews does to your budget.

@@ronjon7942 You bootlickers and your mass produced "imagination".

[@rwschumm]

Very Cool! In 1959 when my parents moved our family from Ohio to Tucson, Az when I was 7. I remember friends telling me that there were 'Rockets' in the area against 'The Russians' which were armed with 'ABombs'. I didn't know what ABombs were. These were Titan 2s. I remember a fuel or oxydizer leak in a Titan 2 silo, I think in the '80s, and you could see the color reddish brown. Now, as a Retired Mechanical Engr, here's a 'Fun Fact'; Electrical power plants in the US, at least, add something like 10% strength hydrazine in the water and steam to absorb any corrosive Oxygen dissolved in the water/steam. Hydrazine, even at such a low concentration, will literally 'suck' oxygen from the atmosphere, and cause a rag to burst into flame quite quickly. Hydrazine LOVES Oxygen, and I'm sure Loves Di-Nitrogen-Tetroxide EVEN MORE! :)

[@HuntingTarg]

That's nifty; using a combustible, water-soluble propellant as a corrosion inhibitor. And people think WD-40 is amazing...

[@rwschumm]

And just to clarify... the hydrazine is added to the 'boiler' water/steam (hi-temp); not to all water streams used in the plant.

[@Mark-hb5zf]

Just saw the Titan at the Air Force Museum at Dayton. I was in awe standing next to it, had to be an amazing time to be an aerospace engineer during those years.

[@wtmayhew]

The missile gallery at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB is one of those goosebump inducing places, knowing the intended function of its contents. I’ve been there several times and have always been awe struck. If you’re ever in the Dayton, Ohio area, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the museum. It is best to devote the better part of a day, and even at that, there will be plenty left to see on a future visit. The displays are periodically tweaked, yet more incentive for a repeat visit. Best of all it is free, other than a voluntary donation if you see fit.

[@SkyhawkSteve]

Just had to add my approval! It's an incredible and overwhelming display! In just that one corner of hangar 4 sits the Titan IV, the XB-70 Mach 3 bomber, the X-15 rocket plane, the X-3 Stiletto (a personal favorite), and a number of other experimental X planes. This is a museum that needs to be visited a number of times to begin to absorb it all!

[@Mark-hb5zf]

@@SkyhawkSteve That is just an awesome spot! The XB-70 is on the top of my airplane list! I could spend days there. During an earlier visit a number of years ago, I took my father-in-law (now passed). He was involved with photography on the B-36. He initially didn't realize the museum had a B-36, it made his day (and mine) when he realized he could once again see, and even go in, such an important part of his military service.

[@SkyhawkSteve]

@@Mark-hb5zf On the subject of the B-36, you might want to visit the SAC museum near Omaha, Nebraska (with an indoor B-36) and the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson (with an outdoor B-36). Both are pretty cool places regardless. :)

[@LLH7202]

@@SkyhawkSteve Not to mention the Apollo 15 Command Module. But, you're right--just the XB-70 and X-15 are enough to inspire hushed awe!

[@marsspacex6065]

I really want Scott to do a video series on all earth escaping space probes.

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

Ok

[@ChemEDan]

It would be out of this world.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Unfortunately it is a pretty short list (5). But I do wonder if the kick stages and Jo-Jo-weights follow the same trajectories or if their flyby of Jupiter put them on other trajectories. Then there is that steel lid...

[@marsspacex6065]

@@zapfanzapfan I meant anything that left earths orbit.

[@kennystrawnmusic]

Have a few “Titan Team” photos handed down by my now-deceased father whose brother and parents (my paternal grandparents) had a bit of an inside scoop on. Great stuff to be covering.

[@MIflyer5124]

A good summary of the Titan programs, here are few points. 1. The Gemini Titan missions used the same GERTS radio guidance system that guided the Mercury Atlas missions, the only Titan boosters to use that guidance system. 2. The Western Electric radio guidance system used to guide the Titan I was used to guide Titan III and Titan 34D missions launched from Vandenberg AFB for decades after the Titan I had disappeared. 3. The Titian IV originally was in designed to use only one upper stage, using Centaurs, and launch only 10 missions, all from Cape Canaveral. The loss of the Shuttle Challenger required a drastic revision of the Titan IV program, expanding to two pads at the Cape and one at VAFB, a second pad at VAFB being cancelled following the demise of the USSR. 4. The failure of the Titan III Commercial mission was not due to an upper stage rocket motor not firing but because the payload was wired up for separation as if it was one of two payloads instead of just one. Lockheed Martin had dispensed with the USAF QC inspection, since it was for a commercial mission, so this error doomed the mission.

[@spacexrocks1041]

Great episode! It's noteworthy that the Titan III SRBs were so powerful that they did all the work at liftoff - the 2-engine central core of Titan 3C wasn't lit until SRB separation. The thrust steering mechanism is quite unusual too.

[@NinjaKitty91_]

Nice to see you in Lompoc, I lived there for a few years. The Titan launches were always awesome because of the mini earthquakes they would cause. You always knew if a Titan-IV was launching because until the Delta-IV, it was the loudest rocket.

[@dr.brysonsfamilymedicine2453]

Thanks for the mention of Clementine. I worked on that spacecraft. Best job I ever had! Watched the launch from close enough to feel the low frequency’s in the gut.

[@flechette3782]

I worked on the Titan II SLV and Titan IVB. Magnificent rockets.They will always have a fond place in my heart.

[@dannypipewrench533]

My grandpa worked in the gas generators for the Titan IVB SRBs.

[@smusgrav]

I was an intern in 2001 on the Titan program. I got a bonus for a successful lunch. It was part of the retainment program to keep employees on until the end. It was awesome. I got to be in the remote launch room in Denver (So cool!) it was interesting listening to the stories of the old timers.

[@SilverSergeant]

Former US Air Force Titan 2 Combat Crew Member here. Thanks for the video. You brought back a lot of memories.

[@tammymakesthings]

I remember the last Titan IV launch from Vandenberg. I lived in Lompoc then, and I stood on the front lawn and watched the launch while listening to my kitchen windows rattling from the sound of the exhaust.

[@directcurrent5751]

Thanks!

[@gelatinous6915]

It is absolutely nuts to me just how many rockets used the AJ10 engine. Apollo, Titan, Delta, and even Artemis all used (and continue to use) them.

[@stevevernon1978]

the Shuttle OMS engine is an AJ10, right?

[@gelatinous6915]

@@stevevernon1978 Yeah. It was heavily modified to be heat resistant, but it was an AJ10 at its core.

[@dannypipewrench533]

AJ-10 and RL-10 are some darn good engines. They go together.

[@carolynmulligan7882]

Thanks for this great history lesson! My dad, Bob Molloy, worked at Martin/ Martin Marietta/ Lockheed Martin from 1956-2000. He was at the first Titan launch and the last, which he attended with my brother and sister-in-law, who also worked there.

[@Strike_Raid]

2:20 Titan I did use AJ-1 engines, but those are probably AJ-5’s, maybe AJ-7’s. 3:40 The ground activation of the command destruct system story on that Titan-1 was either intentional disinformation of just a misunderstanding at the time but you can see the booster stage overpressurizing and shedding ice as the tank swelled and eventually split open.

[@Cais_man]

No! I can't believe I missed a video about the family of one of the most beautiful rockets! The TITAN family has been incredible, from its origins as an ICBM to the TITAN II GLV, TITAN III, IV. The TITAN family of launch vehicles has left its legacy among the most important things in the history of space exploration!

[@NoNameAtAll2]

...missed? what?

[@KTCA0P]

@@NoNameAtAll2 Probably talking about the premiere / chat etc.

[@Apollohistory11]

Nice Job! I spent the best part of my career on the Titan Launch Team - Titan III 34D/Commercial Titan/Titan IVA/B This is a remarkably accurate telling of the Titan Story. Thanks much for the attention to detail. Phil

[@saundby]

I worked on Titan propulsion for many years. Nice mention of the Titan V. I worked on the Titan V engine, briefly. It would have been a single chamber engine, producing about 600-700Klbf. We were flexible on propellants, but not planning to use storables among the options. LOX/Methane was the chief contender, with LOX/Hydrogen and LOX/RP-1 being possibilities. The engine drew heavily on our work on the STBE engine for NLS/ALS, and most of the team came from those programs.

[@MrCPPG]

Cool video, especially loved the Star Trek reference to Zephyram Cochram, the inventor of warp drive. Fun fact: Washington State had several Titan and Atlas missile sites installed during the cold war. They were placed there because it was the furthest place in the continental US so thry coukd be aimed at Cuba without over shooting the target. When they were decommissioned, the missiles were destroyed but the complexes remained and were sold to private buyers. In 2019, I flew in my paramotor over one such site near Ritzville Washington. For years it had been a tourist attraction but by the time I overflew it they had begun changing it into an organic farm. Still the silo doors were clearly visible.

[@TastyBusiness]

The Titan IIIC & the MOL version are my favorite rockets of all time. They just look so awesome! Glad you made a video for one of my favorite rocket families.

[@flashbazbo3932]

At 30 seconds, that was my baby. As a 25 year-old kid, I was a Missile Launch Crew Commander. Amazing technology for it's era. The Gemini astronauts all said nothing compared with a Titan liftoff. One called it, "an E-ticket ride" as it accelerated from zero to 60 mph in its own length. Just prior to first stage burnout, the acceleration G load climbed to over 7 Gs. Standing under the loaded missile on alert was awesome, knowing all that hypergolic fuel was over your head separated by thin aluminum. If your are ever just south of Tucson, the Titan II museum is down in Green Valley, AZ. You'll be glad you visited it.

[@frankgulla2335]

Scott, thanks for that detailed review of the history of the World of Titans. Once again proving that stuff is made for a reason,

[@thejimmydanly]

The Titan IV is hands down the best looking rocket ever flown.

[@robertoroberto9798]

I think you misspelt Delta IV

[@thejimmydanly]

@@robertoroberto9798 Close second imo

[@terminalpsychosis8022]

This man is such a good biographer. This is such an excellent rundown on the life and times of the famous Titan Rocket. So many other biographies of various ... well, all things rockets, winged or otherwise. 🙂Thank you Mr. Manley, for all the information, and entertainment.

[@thesquirrel914]

YES! My favorite family of launch vehicle!

[@larrybush7350]

Thanks Scott! Worked at SLC-4 both East and West for 24 years, launched 24 missiles. Ohh the story's I could tell you - Mostly from the first generation folks that retired during my stay.

[@wild_lee_coyote]

If you are ever in Tucson Arizona then I highly suggest checking out the Titan II Missile Museum. It’s the last surviving Titan II Missile silo with an actual Titan II missile. The missile was never fueled which is why it’s on display, and it has an observation window to show it doesn’t have a warhead.

[@erinw6120]

Agreed. Went last year. it was an enjoyable, and sobering experience. Also hop over to the Pima Air and Space Museum to pay homage to the great SOFIA. They're pulling out the telescope to ship that to Germany for a museum there. Hopefully, they'll put in a recreation of it for eventual display.

[@owensmith7530]

@@erinw6120 They're pulling the entire telescope out of SOFIA? That's vandalism. I heard the real mirror had been taken out and replaced with a dummy that looks right, which is much more sensible. Are you sure it's not this you heard about?

[@brucefelger4015]

Plant to make the fuel for titan 2 was designed by 4 engineers, one of which was my dad.

[@josephstevens9888]

The Titan family of space boosters have always been my favorite. When watching videos of Gemini-Titan launches, I always love hearing the screeching sound the turbopumps make at booster ignition!

[@edwardpate6128]

The Titan II GLV my favorite rocket!

[@anthonyyoung626]

Thanks Scott for this excellent overview of the family of Titan launch vehicles. By the way, I am the author of The Saturn V F-1 Engine published in 2009.

[@colemantrebor1610]

Who asked

[@NikitaWolf1776]

I’ve been waiting for this forever! The Titan family was always super confusing to me and I could not find any good resources talking about its history. Thanks for this video about it.

[@railgap]

When I started as an "environmental test technician" at Martin-Marietta Astronautics in 1988, the very first hardware I remember actually working on was current limiters (for very long signal wires) for Titan LV.

[@RCAvhstape]

I believe some variant of the Titan III was also planned to be used for launching the X-20 Dyna Soar spaceplane before the X-20 was canceled. There are illustrations of it from the 60s. If anyone gets a chance to visit the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio, they have several rockets and ICBMs there, including a Titan IV shown towards the end of this video.

[@bbartky]

The USAF Museum is definitely on my bucket list. I may be misremembering but I think they have the Gemini B test capsule.

[@RCAvhstape]

@@iridium8341 Not really what?

[@jamesbehling7673]

Titan IIIC was designed for Dyna Soar specifically.

[@daveannarino7892]

Very enjoyable to view. I was 9 years old when GT-3 flown, so I was exposed to the Titan launch vehicle early on. It was fun hearing so much "new info" about a launch vehicle I pretty-much grew up watching on TeeVee.

[@bmobert]

Probably already said: Not Michael Burk, but *James* Burk. Side note, Mr Burk was also the BBC reporter for the Apollo program.

[@jaydonbooth4042]

I love how the later Titans look, huge fairing with fat boosters, that's what I like in a rocket lol. It definitely has a strong legacy. Also, that is one awesome Vulcan model you've got there Scott, I'm jealous.

[@joakimlindblom8256]

Thanks for covering one of my favorite launch vehicles! My favorites were the Titan IIIE because it launched Viking and Voyager, and the Titan II launching Gemini because it's the most elegant looking rocket of all time, flying with almost no visible flame and plume on a nearly magical ride into orbit :)

[@LandNfan]

I am glad I never saw any of the Titan IIs I was around actually launch. They were all in silos around Wichita. My duty in USAF from 1966 to 1969 was maintaining communication gear on those launch sites.

[@NormReitzel]

THE Single most spectacular launch I've ever attended was a Titan IV failure, where the solids were self-destructed and burning chunks of propellant rained down on KSC Lot 4A. The fire department was spectacular, with crews of twp running (on foot) to put out the small fires (cars!) hit by cow sized chunks of burning perchlorate-Buna-Al propellant. It would have made a good mini-series,.. Thanks for the excellent synopsis.

[@mattcolver1]

I worked at McDonnell Douglas and we designed and built the 5-meter payload fairing for Titan IV. A variant of that fairing is flown on Delta IV Heavy for specific payloads. So some of Titan IV lived on in Delta IV. I think there's only 1 more Delta IV launch and I don't know if the Titan IV variant fairing is flying on that mission.

[@svcino9549]

All Orion 6-12 mission and Single DSP-23 mission on Delta IVH Will flown on Titan Tri-sector 5 meter fairing

[@75840213]

And also launcher phoenix first star trek warp starship 🎉

[@idigbebop]

Hey Matt, I remember you from late BA to early ULA days. Good times.

[@StevePemberton2]

I drove from Atlanta to the Space Coast many times over the years for Shuttle launches and other space related events. A favorite stopping point was the Gas N Go station at I-75 exit 101 in Cordele in southern Georgia where they have a Titan I on display in the parking lot. You can see it from the freeway but I always seemed to come up with a reason to pull off for gas, snacks or restroom break so that I could get out and look at the rocket. It's there because back in the late 1960's the Rotary Club president thought it would be cool to have an actual missile in town and they were able to obtain a surplus one for free. It's in remarkably good shape for being displayed outside for over fifty years. The Wikipedia page for the Titan I has a nice photo of the Cordele rocket.

[@dannypipewrench533]

My grandpa worked on the gas generators for the Titan IVB SRBs. He has told me that at the first Titan IVB launch, his boss said, "Don, you had better not mess this up." And that is how my grandpa sent something to Saturn.

[@huhwhat2308]

If I were to park a Titan in my driveway to show off it, would be a Titan II GLV. Dual exhaust and everything. Best looking launch vehicle of all time.

[@richb313]

Thanks Scott for such a detailed history and significance of the Titan series of rockets.

[@DanBowkley]

I get to drive right by the Titan I on display in Cordele GA at least a couple times a week. It's so incongruous standing there next to a random gas station. Interstate 75 exit 101 if anyone feels like paying it a visit.

[@mskellyrlv]

Over the years, rockets were cobbled together out of a mix of boosters and upper stages, and given names containing both. There was Thor-Delta, Atlas-Agena, Titan-Agena, Atlas-Centaur, etc. A former colleague and friend of mine who had worked at Convair, Don Anctil, used to quip that Convair and Martin had proposed a launch vehicle combining the Atlas and Titan - and they called it the Titlas.

[@dannypipewrench533]

I would have loved to see the Titlas.

[@leechjim8023]

There was an early proposal to use a Titan 1 as upper stage for the Saturn 1!

[@craigmacdougal9111]

I saw the penultimate Titan launch from Tampa. Titan IV lofting a Lacrosse satellite. It launched near the time of sunset and was what is now called a "jellyfish launch" The SRB staging was particularly spectacular.

[@bryanwilson8652]

LR-87s are my favorite engines. I can’t help but love a barking hyperbolic with such beautiful exhaust plumes.

[@donjones4719]

I'm very surprised they could be redesigned from keralox to hypergolics. I thought that was impractical. I wonder how much remained unchanged.

[@jayrod9979]

I grew up in Cocoa Beach, my dad worked for NASA. I was always a fan of the Titan. I made sure I saw the final Titan iv launch from Cape Canaveral.

[@sparc77]

I spent years pulling alert in a Titan II silo. Standing at the bottom of the launch duct and looking up was a humbling sight.

[@TuRtel89]

Really appreciated the Star Trek reference 🖖🏻 thank you 🙏

[@awesomemcawesomeshorts9531]

What a beast of a machine the Titan was.

[@ComradePhoenix]

I'm glad you mentioned the Star Trek appearance.

[@richardmiles3892]

Thanks great video as always.

[@CapriMikeC]

The Titan Missile Museum just south of Tucson, Arizona is a fun visit. There are engines on display and an empty Titan in the silo.

[@AverageArtz]

I always loved the Titans. Really unique and classic family of vehicles with a very interesting history.

[@Tomyironmane]

On April 5, 2063, a rebuilt Titan II was used to loft the experimental research vessel Phoenix. It wasn't in a space launch complex, it was fired from a missile silo. Though in the movie it's pretty clear Zefram Cochrane went with a Big Dumb Booster approach to refurbishing the titan engine and valves... and just built a pressure fed engine to use LOX and kerosene with an ablative nozzle coating. You know what those things would be like after being exposed to hypergolics. I have a hard core trekkie friend who said the designers just picked that set of special effects because it looked cool, but watch for yourself and see if it doesn't look like he bodged something off the plans for the Sea Dragon.

[@ronjon7942]

This is going to be excellent. Been saving this for last.

[@Turfut730]

I just love the Titan, it's history, the fact it launched Gemini, the spacecrafts it launched... Also love its engines, LR87 is IIRC one of the very engines having developped 3 variants of propellant configurations (RP1-Lox, Hyperogolic Ae/Nto, and cryogenic with the LR87-LH2 variant). It also looks damn cool, one of the iconic rockets < 3

[@joelado]

I wish, Scott, there was a love it button on KZbin. Love your stuff.

[@padders1068]

Scott! Great video! Keep up the good work! 🙂

[@willyburger]

Thank you so much for a change of pace away from the beer drama.

[@spero1966]

The voyager space craft will probably be intact forever. Our first deep space fossil.

[@LongPeter]

4:59 This clip, dicking around with hypergolics with no PPE, needs the voice of Tom from Explosions and Fire being nostalgic for the 60's over the top.

[@darthbuzz1]

That was EXCELLENT Scott. I am a big fan of Titan rockets... they just looked very... rockety. Titan II was my favorite... ICBM or Gemini. But now you mention it... the Voyager are pretty damn special.

[@mikedrop4421]

Thanks for this. The intertwining of scientific civilian rockets and ICBM's is fascinating. Then it morphed into the ability to launch spy satellites and then space stations and then to take over THE MOON! lol. Man I'd love to have been alive to experience the space race knowing it didn't end in nuclear annihilation.

[@happyhome41]

I had a commander at one time who had worked in the transition period. There was no love lost with the upper echelons of the Pentagon who made penny-wise, pound foolish decisions to shut the 34D program, and thus let all that expertise retire. I can still hear his voice, telling us about the "thousand details" learned as part of man-rating the system, that were largely unwritten, and all went out the door - to be learned the hard way, all over again - but without the motivation and scrutiny of man-rating - as seen in the subsequent string of failures you cite. Truth is stranger than fiction.

[@USAmerican100]

11:20 34D solid boosters were actually 5-1/2 segments, the extra segment added was half length. Titan program always referred to them as 5-1/2 segment boosters.

[@BarefootPhilanthropist]

Great content as usual mate. Fly safe.

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting history indeed, Scott! Thanks! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@jmwoods190]

Fun fact: There were 2 ambitious plans for the Titans but they never came to fruition: 1. There were proposals of a larger diameter Titan 1st stage(LDC) with 4 LR-87s instead of the standard 2, with the option of 2 or 4 SRBs. The biggest LDC variant, the Titan 3L4, would've doubled the liftoff thrust of the Titan 4A, more than most if not all EELVs today. 2. The Titan UA SRBs were proposed to be augmented to various Saturn IB & V upgrades, one of them famously featured in Stephen Baxter's novel Voyage.

[@escomag]

Visit the Titan missile museum near Tuscon. Well worth the trip.

[@kristensorensen2219]

#1.3k👍🎉⚡Scott this is a fabulous history!! So glad you shared all of almost 50 years!❤❤

[@JulieanGalak]

I love the Titan IIIE. One of my go-to rockets in KSP RO/RP1

[@madcapHPS]

I worked as a caretaker at a Titan 1 silo in Wa a few year back. Interesting when you realize the whole silo can't really be a first strike type weapon, it was designed to survive and retaliate as part of the whole MAD philosophy.

[@mustang5132]

My favourite rockets of all time. When I think of rockets, the Titans are my first thought

[@Tramseskumbanan]

The steering mechanism of those SRM’s were pretty remarkable. Instead of hydraulic manoeuvred nozzles they used hydrazine injections into the main chambers to create impulses in the thrust.

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

i started a new career mode in KSP the other day... perfect timing!

[@williammann9176]

I do not know if anyone else commented on this. I copied this from Wikipedia. An MOL test flight was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 on 3 November 1966 at 13:50:42 UTC, on a Titan IIIC, vehicle C-9. The flight consisted of an MOL mockup built from a Titan II propellant tank, and Gemini spacecraft No. 2, which had been refurbished as a prototype Gemini B spacecraft. This was the first time an American spacecraft intended for human spaceflight had flown in space twice, albeit without a crew. The adapter connecting the Gemini spacecraft to the laboratory mockup contained three other spacecraft: two OV4-1 satellites and an OV1-6 satellite. The Gemini B spacecraft separated for a suborbital reentry, while the MOL mockup continued into low Earth orbit, where it released the three satellites. The simulated laboratory contained eleven experiments. The Manifold experimental package consisted of two micrometeoroid detection payloads, a transmitter beacon designated ORBIS-Low, a cell growth experiment, a prototype hydrogen fuel cell, a thermal control experiment, a propellent transfer and monitoring system to investigate fluid dynamics in zero gravity, a prototype attitude control system, an experiment to investigate the reflection of light in space, and an experiment into heat transfer. The spacecraft was painted to allow it to be used as a target for an optical tracking and observation experiment from the ground. Eight of the eleven experiments were successful. The hatch installed in the Gemini's heat shield to provide access to the MOL during crewed operations was tested during the capsule's reentry. The Gemini capsule was recovered near Ascension Island in the South Atlantic by the USS La Salle after a flight of 33 minutes. The laboratory mockup entered an orbit with an apogee of 305 kilometers (165 nmi), a perigee of 298 kilometers (161 nmi), and 32.8 degrees of inclination. It remained in orbit until its orbital decay on 9 January 1967.

[@scowell]

Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinville, Oregon has a Titan II, upright in a special display... I believe the 2nd stage is horizontal. There's a Saturn V IU hanging right over it... great place to geek out.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video, Scott...👍

[@mamulcahy]

Great video Scott!

[@herbmyers805]

You brought up Star Trek as there was a Gary Seven missle to be stoped I don't remember what rocket type video was used. Great run down on all rockets used by USA. Except Satrurn.

[@bobblum5973]

It was a Saturn V launch that was used for that _Star Trek_ episode, _Assignment: Earth._

[@herbmyers805]

@@bobblum5973 Thanks Bob!!!

[@bobblum5973]

@Herb Myers As a space fan(atic) since the '60s I always get annoyed when they use a clip on a TV show and seem to grab any one that's handy, even if the rocket or aircraft doesn't match from scene to scene or what the script calls for. I realize time and budget constraints come into play, but it still bothers me. (I can still enjoy the show!)

[@alexwake850]

Absolutely fascinating!

[@bazoo513]

13:50 - what is that red cylinder strapped to the SRB?

[@robertseymour9023]

There is a Titan I rocket on display in Cordele, GA at the intersection of I-75 and 16th Ave, between the Krystal and the Gas Station.

[@StevePemberton2]

I think of it as being in the Gas N Go parking lot because that's where I always park to go inside to get snacks or use the restrooms, and oftentimes buy gas, and of course look at the rocket! But yes it's really in both parking lots. But I never go to Krystal because I don't think of greasy sliders as the best thing to eat while on a long drive :) There is a great picture of the Cordele Titan on the Wikipedia page for the Titan 1.

[@StoneCresent]

I recall seeing an artist's rendition of Dynasoar launching on a Titan with large stabilizer fins on the first stage.

[@spaceworldupdate437]

Good comprehensive review of the Titan family in this video. Really good review of all the changes. Unfortunately, all the early Titan versions look like they need to go on a diet. The original 4:3 ratio format the 1950s and 1960s films were shot in get distorted when stretched into 16:9. Its always better to just allow black space around the frame and show the film in its original ratio.

[@paulheinrich7645]

Thanks, Scott: I was amazed to learn that Phil Collins played Squiggie on Laverne and Shirley. Who knew?