Rockoon
Encyclopedia
Sounding rocket
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. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
that, rather than being immediately lit while on the ground, is first carried into the upper atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and automatically ignited. This allows the rocket to achieve a higher altitude, as the rocket does not have to move under power through the lower and thicker, layers of the atmosphere.
The original concept was developed by Cmdr. Lee Lewis, Cmdr. G. Halvorson, S. F. Singer, and James A. Van Allen during the Aerobee rocket firing cruise of the U.S.S. Norton Sound
USS Norton Sound (AVM-1)
USS Norton Sound was originally built as a by Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in San Pedro, California. She was named for Norton Sound, a large inlet in West Alaska, between the Seward Peninsula and the mouths of the Yukon, north-east of the Bering Sea.-Career:Norton Sound was laid...
on March 1, 1949.
A serious disadvantage is that balloons cannot be steered and consequently neither the direction the launched rocket moves in nor the region where it will fall is easily adjustable. Therefore, a large area for the fall of the rocket is required for safety reasons.
Early atmospheric research
TIMETime
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine reported in 1959: "Van Allen's 'Rockoons' could not be fired in Iowa for fear that the spent rockets would strike an Iowan or his house." So Van Allen convinced the U.S. Coast Guard to let him fire his rockoons from the icebreaker Eastwind
USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279)
USCGC Eastwind was a United States Coast Guard Wind-class icebreaker.She was laid down in 1942 and launched in 1944. Eastwind ferried 200 US army troops which captured the last German weather station in Greenland, Edelweiss II, on 4 October 1944. She also seized the German trawler Externsteine,...
that was bound for Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. "The first balloon rose properly to 70,000 ft., but the rocket hanging under it did not fire. The second Rockoon behaved in the same maddening way. On the theory that extreme cold at high altitude might have stopped the clockwork supposed to ignite the rockets, Van Allen heated cans of orange juice, snuggled them into the third Rockoon's gondola, and wrapped the whole business in insulation. The rocket fired."
The Office of Naval Research (USA ONR
ONR
ONR can mean:* Ontario Northland Railway in Ontario, Canada* Office for Nuclear Regulation in the United Kingdom* Office of Naval Research of the U.S...
) used the Loki
Loki (rocket)
Loki, officially designated 76mm HEAA Rocket T220, was an American unguided anti-aircraft rocket based on the German Taifun. Like the Taifun, Loki never saw service in its original role, but later found widespread use as a sounding rocket...
in some of its Rockoon launches, lofting the Loki to high altitudes on a helium balloon before firing, for upper atmosphere research. The first Rockoon launch of the Loki I occurred on Jul 1 1955 from shipboard off the coast of Greenland.
During Jul-Oct 1955 instrumented Loki I and Deacon
Deacon (rocket)
Deacon is the designation of an American sounding rocket. The Deacon was launched 90 times from 1947 to 1957 from Wallops Island. The Deacon has a maximum flight height of 20 kilometers and a pay load ability of 17 kilograms...
rockets were successfully balloon launched (Rockoons) from shipboard off the coast of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
in cosmic-ray studies by The University of Iowa research group. Army Ordnance supplied JPL-developed Loki rockets and ONR sponsored the project.
The first attempt of the Deacon Rockoon on Aug 21 1952 06:25 GMT from the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
80.1 N x 68.5 W was a failure. However, success came on Aug 9 1953 in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, Launch Site 11 Launch Point 10 74.38 N x 71.93 W, at 05:54 GMT. Quickly followed by another success on Aug 30 1953 20:46 GMT at Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11 Launch Point 13 53.13 N, 54.75 W.
Recent usage
More recently, the JP AerospaceJP Aerospace
JP Aerospace is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to achieving affordable access to space. They have been hired by the U.S. Air Force to provide concepts to allow rapid launch of battlefield communication and monitoring systems....
company has developed and used rockoons as part of its space access plans. Additionally, Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
has started a program to develop rockoons. And significant work has been recently done by the Romanian space company ARCASPACE
ARCASPACE
Asociația Română pentru Cosmonautică și Aeronautică or Romanian Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Association is a non-governmental organization that promotes aerospace projects as well as other space-related activities...
.
See also
- JP AerospaceJP AerospaceJP Aerospace is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to achieving affordable access to space. They have been hired by the U.S. Air Force to provide concepts to allow rapid launch of battlefield communication and monitoring systems....
- Team Prometheus
- CU SpaceflightCU SpaceflightCU Spaceflight is a student-run Cambridge University society founded with the aim of achieving cheap access to space. It is supported by the Cambridge-MIT Institute.-History:...
- Da Vinci ProjectDa Vinci ProjectThe da Vinci Project was a privately funded, volunteer-staffed attempt to launch a reusable manned suborbital spacecraft. It was formed in 1996 specifically to be a contender for the Ansari X PRIZE for the first non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft. The project was based in Toronto,...
- Air launch to orbitAir launch to orbitAir launch to orbit is the method of launching rocket launch vehicles at altitude from a horizontal-takeoff turbojet aircraft, either subsonic or supersonic...