HARP 7 inch Gun

The original HARP 7-1 gun probe was fundamentally a scaled up version of the 5-1 gun probe and was used for similar payloads.. The 7-1 probe had a mean diameter of 91 mm, a length of 1640 mm, and a flight weight of 27.3 kg. The vehicle was launched at a velocity of 1650 m/s (5400 ft/sec) with a 50 kg (110 lb) charge of M17 propellant.

The 7-1 probe, although serviceable as an atmospheric tool, failed to reach its theoretical apogee in test flights. Although directly scaled from the 5-1 vehicle, it was not optimal for the 7 inch gun ballistics and was simply too heavy. A new vehicle was designed to take these factors into account and the 7-2 probe was created.

by Richard K Graf

Typical orbit: 80 km altitude. Length: 1.64 m (5.38 ft). Maximum Diameter: 0.0910 m (0.2980 ft). Span: 0.18 m (0.58 ft). Mass: 27 kg (60 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: 7 inch HARP Gun.