galacticjourney

There was another mystery Atlas Agena launch from Cape Canaveral on May 24. My sources tell me it was in the same series as the mission late February that broke up before it could reach orbit. It appears to be some kind of infrared missile launch detection system. I even got my hands on some conceptual art, though there's no way of knowing how accurate it is. Its project name appears to be MIDAS--I'm guessing this stands for "Missile Infrared Detection Alarm System" or something like that.

I don't know if the system works or if the satellite performed properly, but I understand "MIDAS 2" did make it into orbit. With tensions between American and the U.S.S.R. at an all-time high, thanks to whole spy plane kerfuffle and the break-down of summit peace talks, we need probes like this more than ever.

(see the rest at Galactic Journey!)