 | Astrobee 1500
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Sounding rocket. Year: 1961. Family: Astrobee. Country: USA. Three stage vehicle consisting of 2 x Recruit + 1 x Aerojet Jr + 1 x Alcor From NASA SOUNDING ROCKETS, 1958-1968 - A Historical Summary, NASA SP-4401, 1971, by William R. Corliss
The Astrobee 1500 was first used by NASA in 1962. It was intended to be a replacement for the large Argo D-8 Journeyman rocket, which NASA used for big payloads and high altitudes. A replacement was necessary because the Journeyman first stage, the Sergeant motor, was becoming increasingly hard to get. Built by Aerojet, the Astrobee 1500 consisted of an Aerojet 100 (Aerojet Junior) first stage augmented by two Thiokol Recruits, plus an Alcor second stage. Like the Journeyman, the Astrobee 1500 has been used only sparingly in NASA's programs, it being unnecessarily big and expensive for most purposes. Manufacturer: Aerojet. Launches: 10. Failures: 3. Success Rate: 70.00%. First Launch Date: 1961-03-08. Last Launch Date: 1969-10-15. Launch data is: complete. Apogee: 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 566.000 kN (127,241 lbf). Total Mass: 5,200 kg (11,400 lb). Core Diameter: 0.79 m (2.59 ft). Total Length: 10.40 m (34.10 ft).
Astrobee 1500 Chronology 1961 March 8 - 17:53 GMT - Launch Site: Eglin. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 AE16.305. - Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: AFCRL. Apogee: 431 km (267 mi). References: 1592.
1961 August 1 - 20:18 GMT - Launch Site: Point Arguello. Launch Complex: LC-A. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 AA16.304. FAILURE: Failure. - Geodetic mission Nation: USA. Agency: AFCRL. References: 1592.
1961 December 8 - Launch Site: Point Arguello. Launch Complex: LC-A. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. - Project CAMBRIDGE Geodetic mission Nation: USA. Agency: AFCRL. Apogee: 2,190 km (1,360 mi). References: 916.
1962 July 9 - Launch Site: Point Arguello. Launch Complex: LC-B. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. FAILURE: Failure. - Magnetospheric mission? Nation: USA. Agency: AEC. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). References: 916.
1963 April 8 - 11:26 GMT - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 NASA 16.01GT. FAILURE: Failure. - Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 72 km (44 mi). References: 1592.
1964 October 21 - 19:44 GMT - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 NASA 16.02GT. - Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 1,950 km (1,210 mi). References: 1592.
1967 February 25 - 02:35 GMT - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 NASA 16.05US. - Solar mission Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 2,380 km (1,470 mi). References: 1592.
1967 August 30 - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 NASA 16.03GR. - Radio Astronomy mission Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 1,500 km (900 mi). References: 1592.
1968 April 20 - 17:38 GMT - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 NASA 16.04UI. - Ionosphere mission Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 1,250 km (770 mi). References: 1592.
1969 October 15 - 22:43 GMT - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Astrobee 1500. LV Configuration: Astrobee 1500 NASA 16.06GR. - RAE-B Test Radio Astronomy mission Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Apogee: 2,575 km (1,600 mi). References: 1836.
Bibliography and Further Reading - McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
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