# 1959 LOCKHEED AGENA BOOSTER ROCKET LAUNCH OF DISCOVERER-1 CORONA PROGRAM 85454

T+INFINITY is the name of this film, which profiles part of the Air Force Space Program and the launch of the satellite Discoverer-1 in 1959. The USAF-sponsored development of launch vehicles for space applications known as CORONA is shown, with a Thor-Agena booster system in use. Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles that used Thor first stages and Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket family. The first attempted launch of a Thor-Agena was in January 1959. The first successful launch was on February 28, 1959, with the launch of Discoverer-1. The film shows the various components of the rocket including the various stages and the satellite itself, as well as its design and construction. Tracking of the mission is also shown at stations including at Oahu, Kodiak Alaska, and elsewhere. Hickham AFB is shown at the 20 minute mark with cargo planes standing by for aerial recovery of the satellite package (containing photographic exposures). Airborne pick-up is seen at the 22:25 mark. The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force. The Corona satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), the People's Republic of China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972. The name of…

- Kind: Film
- By: PeriscopeFilm
- Genres: Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/85454-t-plus-infinity)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/85454-t-plus-infinity?play=1)