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On November 10, 1961, Atlas E Missile 32E was launched on a biological mission carrying a squirrel monkey named Goliath. The sustainer engine shut down almost immediately after liftoff, and the vernier engines failed to start.

The booster engines initially maintained attitude control, but a fire broke out in the thrust section. The B-1 engine shut down 22 seconds after launch, telemetry became erratic, and the rocket began tumbling. Range Safety destroyed it at 35 seconds. The nose cone struck the ocean about 20 seconds later, killing Goliath.

Goliath had reportedly waited in the nose cone for nearly 50 hours before launch and had been trained to endure 80 hours of darkness without food or water.