Twice within 20 hours last week, the Air Force sent Thor rockets roaring from their Cape Canaveral pads. The first, an Soft. Thor-Able version of the missile (fitted out with a Vanguard second stage), carried an intercontinental ballistic missile nose cone, soared 5,000 miles down range. Despite elaborate homing and signaling systems, the nose cone was not recovered, but telemetry data showed that it had successfully survived a hot ride through the atmosphere.
The second shot, a conventional 65-ft.Thor, successfully ran its 1,600-mile flight, bringing to 36 the total of Thor rockets tested so far.
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