USAF History: “History of the Air Force 1954-1964” (1976) US Air Force History; Missiles & Space

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“HISTORY OF THE AIR FORCE 1954 – 1964 — FROM MISSILE DEVELOPMENT TO SPACE… COVERS DR. GODDARDS’ ROCKET EXPERIMENTS IN 1926, GERMAN V-2 ROCKETS, THE AMERICAN MISSILE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, AEROSPACE MEDICINE RESEARCH, CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, X-15 ASTRONAUTS’ FLIGHTS AND AIR FORCE EFFORTS IN SPACE.”

Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

Atlas is a family of American missiles and space launch vehicles. The original Atlas missile was designed in the late 1950s and produced by the Convair Division of General Dynamics,[2] to be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It was a liquid propellant rocket burning liquid oxygen and RP-1 fuel in three engines configured in an unusual “stage-and-a-half” or “Parallel Staging” design: its two outboard booster engines were jettisoned during ascent, while its center sustainer engine, propellant tanks and other structural elements were retained through orbital insertion (for orbital flights).

The missiles saw only brief ICBM service, and the last squadron was taken off operational alert in 1965. From 1962 to 1963, Atlas boosters launched the first four American astronauts to orbit the Earth. Various Atlas II models were launched 63 times between 1991 and 2004. There were only six launches of the Atlas III, all between 2000 and 2005. The Atlas V is still in service, with launches planned until 2020.

The Atlas name was originally proposed by Karel Bossart and his design team working at Convair on project MX-1593. Using the name of a mighty titan from Greek mythology reflected the missile’s place as the biggest and most powerful to date. It also reflected the parent company of Convair, the Atlas Corporation.

More than 300 Atlas launches have been conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and 285 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California…

The first successful test launch of an SM-65 Atlas missile was on December 17, 1957. Approximately 350 Atlas missiles were built. Many were eventually converted to orbital launch vehicles after they were removed from service as missiles.

Early Atlas rockets were also built specifically for non-military uses. On December 18, 1958, an Atlas was used to launch the Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment (SCORE) satellite, which was “The first prototype of a communications satellite, and the first test of any satellite for direct practical applications.” The satellite broadcast President Eisenhower’s pre-recorded Christmas message around the world.

The Atlas boosters would collapse under their own weight if not kept pressurized with nitrogen gas in the tanks when devoid of propellants. The Atlas booster was unusual in its use of “balloon” tanks. The rockets were made from very thin stainless steel that offered minimal or no rigid support. It was pressure in the tanks that gave the rigidity required for space flight.

The SM-65 Atlas was used as a first stage for satellite launch vehicles for half a century. Many were eventually converted to orbital launch vehicles after they were removed from service as missiles. Missiles converted into Atlas E/F “space boosters” were used to launch the early “Block I” GPS satellites…