Titan IVA
United States Air Force (USAF)

Titan IVA
Operator: US Air Force
Location: Kennedy Space Center, Florida (USA)
Timeframe: 1995-1999

Personal Interest:
The 45th Weather Squadron provided launch weather support for all launches from Cape Canaveral Air Station. I was on duty for several Titan IV launches. Eleven Titan IV launches were performed from CCAS SLC-40/41 during my tour of duty there: 6 Titan IVA and 5 Titan IVB. Only eight were sucessful; two failed to deliver the payload to the correct orbit, and one exploded mid-flight due to catastrophic failure. This model represents the USAF Titan IVA that exploded while carrying a classified payload. A highlight of the Titan program was the launch of Cassini–Huygens, a pair of probes sent to Saturn. This was the only the only NASA use for the Titan IV during my tour.