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Information about Viking Rocket

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A Viking rocket, ca. 1949.
The Viking rocket series of sounding rockets were designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company (now Lockheed-Martin) under the direction of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). A total of twelve Viking rockets were launched from 1949 to 1954.

Origins

After World War II the United States experimented with captured German V-2 rockets as part of the Hermes project. Based on these experiments the U.S. decided to develop its own liquid fueled rocket design, to be called Viking.

Launches

The first launch attained an altitude of  mi ( km). Viking 11 rose to 254 km (158 miles) on May 24 1954, an all-time altitude record for a single-stage rocket.

Innovations

Viking pioneered important innovations, including a gimbaled motor for steering and intermittent gas jets for stabilizing the vehicle after the main power cutoff. These devices are now extensively used in large, steerable rockets and in space vehicles. The engine was one of the first three large, liquid-propelled, rocket-powered engines produced in the United States.

Through these Viking firings, NRL was first to measure temperature, pressure, and winds in the upper atmosphere and electron density in the ionosphere, and to record the ultraviolet spectra of the sun. NRL also took the first high-altitude pictures of the Earth, showing its curvature.

On October 5 1954, during a launching from White Sands, New Mexico, a camera mounted in an NRL Viking rocket took the first picture of a hurricane and a tropical storm, from altitudes as high as 160 km (100 miles). The picture embraced an area more than 1600 km (1000 miles) in diameter, including Mexico and the area from Texas to Iowa. This was also the first natural-color picture of Earth from rocket altitudes. The success NRL achieved in this series of experiments encouraged Laboratory scientists to believe that, with a more powerful engine and the addition of upper stages, the Viking rocket could be made a vehicle capable of launching an earth satellite. This led to NRL's Project Vanguard.

Improvements

Improvements were made Viking rockets as they were built and tested. The final version was 13.7 meter (45 ft) long, 1.14 meter (45 in) in diameter and had a 450 kg (1000 lb) payload. Its single engine burnt alcohol and liquid oxygen, producing 89 kN (20000 lbf) of thrust. Hydrogen peroxide was converted to steam to power a turbopump that fed fuel and LOX into the engine.

Viking into Vanguard

The success NRL achieved in this series of experiments encouraged Laboratory scientists to believe that, with a more powerful engine and the addition of upper stages, the Viking rocket could be made a vehicle capable of launching an earth satellite. This led to NRL's Project Vanguard.

External links

Adapted from See also:
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight.
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The Glenn L. Martin Company was an early U.S. aircraft company founded by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin. The company went through a number of mergers over time and now exists as Lockheed Martin.[1]

History



Glenn L.
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Lockheed Martin

Public (NYSE: LMT )
Founded 1912 (in 1995, company took on current name)
Headquarters Headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland; locations in 45 U.S. states and 56 countries

Key people Robert J.
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United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps and conducts a broad program of scientific research and advanced development.
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Allied powers:
 Soviet Union
 United States
 United Kingdom
 China
 France
...et al. Axis powers:
 Germany
 Japan
 Italy
...et al.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Function single stage ballistic missile (area bombing)
Manufacturer Mittelwerk GmbH (development by Army Research Center Peenemünde)
Unit cost 100,000 RM January 1944, 50,000 RM March 1945[1]
Entered service 1944
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The Hermes project was an effort undertaken in 1944 by the Ordnance Corps of the United States Army to develop long-range missiles similar to the V-2 rocket developed by Germany. The primary contract for the project was awarded to General Electric on 20 November 1944.
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1 kilometre =
SI units
0 m 0106 mm
US customary / Imperial units
0 ft 0 mi
A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer, symbol km
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Viking 11 was the eleventh rocket in the American Viking rocket series. On May 24, 1954, it reached a height of 253 km, and took the first pictures of the Earth from that altitude.
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May 24 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1951 1952 1953 - 1954 - 1955 1956 1957

Year 1954 (MCMLIV
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October 5 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1951 1952 1953 - 1954 - 1955 1956 1957

Year 1954 (MCMLIV
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White Sands, New Mexico

Seal
Motto:
Location of White Sands, New Mexico
Coordinates:
Country United States
State New Mexico
County Dona Ana
Area
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano


Capital
(and largest city) Mexico City

Official languages Spanish (
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State of Texas

Flag of Texas Seal
Nickname(s): Lone Star State
Motto(s): Friendship.
Before Statehood Known as
The Republic of Texas

Official language(s) No official language

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State of Iowa

Flag of Iowa Seal
Nickname(s): The Tall Corn State, The Hawkeye State
Motto(s): Our liberties we prize and our rights
we will maintain

Official language(s) English

Capital
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Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket as the launch vehicle.
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alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. The general formula for a simple acyclic alcohol is CnH2n+1OH.
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Liquid oxygen (also LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industry) is the liquid form of oxygen. It has a pale blue color and is strongly paramagnetic. Liquid oxygen has a density of 1.141 g/cm³ (1.
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Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a very pale blue liquid which appears colourless in a dilute solution, slightly more viscous than water. It is a weak acid.
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As the name suggests, a turbopump comprises basically two main components: a pump and a driving turbine, both mounted on the same shaft.

A turbopump can refer to either of two types of pumps.
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Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket as the launch vehicle.
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