Aerobee

The Aerobee rocket was one of the United States' most produced and productive sounding rockets. Developed by the Aerojet Corporation, the Aerobee was designed to combine the altitude and launching capability of the V-2 with the cost effectiveness and mass production of the WAC Corporal. More than 1000 Aerobees were launched between 1947 and 1985, returning vast amounts of astronomical, physical, aeronomical, and biomedical data. Development Research using V-2 rockets after World War II produced valuable results concerning the nature of cosmic rays, the solar spectrum, and the distribution of atmospheric ozone. However, the limited supply and the expense of assembling and firing the V-2 rockets, as well as the small payload capacity of the first purpose-built sounding rocket, the WAC Corporal, created demand for a low cost sounding rocket to be used for scientific research. An Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) effort led by James Van Allen led to a contract presented 17 May 1946 by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to Aerojet, at the time a producer of WAC Corporal rockets, for the procurement of 20 liquid-fueled sounding rockets capable of carrying a payload to an altitude of . 15 of the new rockets would be allocated to APL, and 5 to NRL. Aerojet was to be the prime contractor while Douglas Aircraft, also a producer of WAC Corporals, would provide aerodynamic engineering and take on some of the production. The Aerojet designation for the new rocket was "Aerobee", a contraction of Aerojet, manufacturer of the engine, and Bumblebee, a Navy guided missile program. It was a single-stage, liquid-fueled, fin-stabilized rocket, using a solid-propellant rocket motor as a booster. This booster was jettisoned after 2.5 seconds of operation. The nose cone containing the telemetry transmitter and the scientific payload was recoverable and returned to earth on a parachute. As with its progenitor, the WAC Corporal, the Aerobee required a tall launch tower to provide the necessary stability until the relatively slowly accelerating rocket gained enough speed for its fins to be effective in controlling attitude. Launch towers were adjustable in inclination and azimuth to compensate for wind. On 25 September 1947, a dummy Aerobee attached to a live engine was launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico for flight testing. This was followed (after two more dummy tests in October) by the first complete Aerobee launch on 24 November.