Thor Able

Display location: To be removed from rocket garden for restoration

Type: Space launch vehicle
Designation: Thor Able / Thor Able I / Thor Able II
Serial Number: 56-6796
Payload: Nose cone experiments, space probes, satellites
Agency: U.S. Air Force, NASA
Contractor: Douglas Aircraft Company
Launch Complex: 17A
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Operations: 1958-1960

Related exhibits:

Introduced in 1958, Thor Able was the first variant of the Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) to be used as a space launch vehicle. Originally designed to support testing of military and civilian high-speed re-entry vehicles, Thor Able was modified to carry small payloads into space. Commercial Thor-based rockets were renamed Delta in 1960, so Thor Able represents the first generation of the Delta rocket family. Indeed, the modern Delta II and Delta III were direct descendants of the Thor Able.

Using a modified Thor missile as first stage plus second and third stages adapted from the Vanguard rocket program, the Thor Able was used during flight tests of re-entry hardware for U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) programs. The first flight tests of nose cones simulating ICBM ranges and speeds were conducted using Thor Able rockets, contributing to a broader knowledge of re-entry vehicle dynamics. While Thor Able re-entry vehicle tests reached altitudes high enough to be considered space missions, the rocket also carried out satellite launching duties.

The Redistribution and Marketing Branch at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, provided the museum display in December 1966. The Thor Able is being set in place at the museum (left) on 2 March 1967.

One of the earliest exhibits installed at the museum, the Thor Able will be removed during winter 2011 for restoration.