Titan I produced its fair share of fiery mishaps at Cape Canaveral over half a century ago, but none were quite as spectacular as the wayward flight of Titan J-2 on 1 July 1960. This was the first operational prototype of the Titan missile, and it also inaugurated a brand new Titan launch pad, LC-20. Instead of completing a routine test flight of 8,121 km (4,385 nautical miles) downrange to the vicinity of Ascension Island, Test Number 1801 came to an explosive ending that was later immortalized on film in the movie The Right Stuff. The rocket underwent a successful 29.98 second Flight Readiness Firing at pad 20 on 17 June 1960. So far, so good. Liftoff at 12:29 pm local time on 1 July appeared normal, but a fitting in the hydraulic control line failed immediately after launch, and the missile began arcing alarmingly to the northwest. Completely out of control (as revealed in these dramatic photographs recently acquired by the author), the rocket began flying horizontally at about 91 m (300 ft) altitude and was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer only 11 seconds after liftoff.
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