First flown in 1955, the Atlas was America's first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Although its career as a nuclear armed missile was short-lived, the Atlas evolved into one of Americas premier satellite launchers.
Perhaps the most famous payload launched on the shoulders of Atlas was the Friendship 7 spacecraft in 1962. It was aboard this capsule that John Glenn made his historic orbital flight.
Amongst the literally hundreds of military and civilian payloads placed in orbit with the Atlas, were several high-profile deep space probes. Among these were the Ranger and Surveyor probes to the Moon, and the Mariner probes to Mars, Venus, and Mercury.
| Version | First Flight | ||
| 1 | Atlas B | 1958 |  |
| 2 | Atlas B Score | 1958 | |
| 3 | Atlas Agena | 1960 | |
| 4 | Atlas F ICBM | 1961 | |
| 5 | Mercury Atlas | 1962 | |
| 6 | Atlas Centaur | 1962 | |
| 7 | Atlas H | 1983 | |
| 8 | Atlas IIA | 1992 | |
| 9 | Atlas IIAS | 1993 | |
| 10 | Atlas IIIA | 2000 | |
| 11 | Atlas V 400 | 2002 | |
| 12 | Atlas V 500 | 2003 |
Atlas-D rocket on display at Kennedy Space Center. (Photos: Richard Kruse, 2009)
Atlas rocket on transporter at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (Photos: Richard Kruse, 2007)
Atlas-F rocket on display at Kennedy Space Center. The display includes a dummy Agena stage on top. In reality, almost all Atlas-Agena rockets were "D" models.(Photos: Richard Kruse, 2009)
Photos of an Atlas Sustainer Motor being restored at the Michigan Space Science Center. (Photos: Richard Kruse, 2008)
Early Atlas rockets used two Rocketdyne LR-101 vernier engines to provide directional control.
Photos of an Atlas Vernier Motor at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum. (Photos: Richard Kruse, 2008)
Images by Richard Kruse are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
