Hopi-Dart

Hopi-Dart
Function Sounding rocket
Manufacturer Marshall Space Flight Center
Country of origin United States
Size
Height 3.32 m (10.9 ft)
Diameter 0.11 m (4.3 in)
Mass 38 kg (84 lb)
Stages

Two

Payload to 97 km (60 mi) 4.99 kg (11.0 lb)
Launch history
Status Retired
Launch sites Multiple
Total launches 22
First flight 28 February 1963
Last flight 23 November 1964
First stage – Hopi III
Diameter 0.11 m (4.3 in)
Fuel solid
Second stage – Dart
Diameter 3.5 cm (1.4 in)

Hopi-Dart was an American sounding rocket used by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for aeronomy studies in the early 1960s.

Design

Hopi-Dart was a two-stage vehicle, combining a solid-fuelled Hopi III first stage with an unpowered "dart" second stage.[1] It was originally capable of carrying a payload of 4.5 kilograms (10 lb) to an apogee of 64 kilometres (40 mi); an upgrade, sometimes known as "Hopi Plus", increased the apogee to 97 km (60 mi).[2]

Operational history

Eleven test and eleven operational aeronomy missions were flown, with Wallops Island, the Tonopah Test Range, and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 43 being used as launch sites. Four of the test launches were failures.[1]

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 Wade, Mark. "Hopi Dart". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  2. Jacobs and Whitney 1962, p. 80.
Bibliography

  • Jacobs, Horace; Eunice Engelke Whitney (1962). Missile and Space Projects Guide 1962. New York: Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4899-6967-5.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.