Discoverer 10

Discoverer 10 was an American military reconnaissance satellite, launched in 1960 as a part of the Discoverer program.^[1] The satellite was launched on 19 February 1960, at 20:15 UTC, from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the Thor-Agena launch vehicle. The booster began exhibiting abnormal pitch oscillations almost immediately at liftoff and Range Safety sent the destruct command at T+52 seconds when allowable safety margins were exceeded. Most of the debris fell in and around LC-75. The failure was traced to a malfunction of the Thor's guidance computer due to a suspected unauthorized repair modification.

References

1. Claude Lafleur. "Spacecrafts launched in 1960". Claudelafleur.qc.ca. Retrieved 2015-03-30.