Small Rockets for Research and Weather Observation

Abstract

The US Navy has long been active in the field of small sounding rockets and has participated in many development programs. After the Viking, which was a large liquid fuel rocket over a meter in diameter, 13 meters long and which weighed nearly 7500 kg, the general trend has been toward smaller more efficient and lower cost rockets. These systems are used both for the investigation of the atmosphere of the earth and to place instruments above the earth’s atmosphere in order to study the sun and other planets. The Aerobee and Aerobee-Hi represent the continuation of the liquid fuel rocket development and the DEACON, ASP and ARCAS are the result of efforts to produce small solid fuel sounding rockets. Efforts to make use of rocket motors borrowed from weapon systems have resulted in the HASP or LOKIDART and MIRAL or 2.75 in. air launched sounding rockets. Combining sounding rockets with larger weapon type boosters has yielded such well known and much used research vehicles as the NIKE-DEACON, NIKE-CAJUN and NIKE-ASP. The latter system (NIKE-ASP) is capable of lifting scientific payloads of 1/10 the weight of those carried by Viking to the same altitude reached by the Viking but at 1/50th of the cost.