Jason

The five-stage Jason rocket was developed by the US Air Force for monitoring of radiation in near-earth space (700-800 km) after high altitude nuclear explosions.

They were used in July-September 1958 to study the effects before and after the Argus test series. The five stage vehicle consisting of an unmodified Honest John military rocket first stage, topped by two Nike stages in tandem, then a Recruit fourth stage and T-55 fifth stage. In later tests it was replaced by the simpler four-stage Javelin.

During the first year of the existence of Goddard's Sounding Rocket Branch, several sounding rockets, whose development predated NASA, came into the "stable" of vehicles readily available to NASA. Chief among these were the Javelin and Journeyman, both in the so-called Argo series. The Argo series was developed by the Aerolab Development Co. under the sponsorship of NACA/NASA, with support from the Air Force Special Weapons Center, the Naval Bureau of Ordnance, and the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory.

The Argo vehicles were derived from a family of NACA/NASA hypersonic test vehicles, after the fashion of the Nike-Deacon and Nike-Cajun. Aerolab has designed a long series of Argo rockets, including the Argo E-20, designed to lift 4.5 kg (10 lb) to 24 384 m (80 000 ft); but only the Jason (Argo E-5), the Javelin (Argo D-4), and the Journeyman (Argo D-8) have seen significant use. NASA never employed the Jason, but it is the rocket that the Air Force employed to measure high-altitude nuclear radiation during the Argus experiments in the late summer of 1958, when nuclear weapons were exploded at high altitudes. NASA has used the Javelin to some extent. The Journeyman helped NASA gather radiation data prior to the Mercury flights and has also seen some Air Force use. In general, the Argos are rather large by sounding rocket standards. They were all put together from off-the-shelf military hardware, often following vehicle adaptations by Langley Research Center. NASA use of the Argo series has been minimal.

Manufacturer: Aerolab. Launches: 22. Failures: 2. Success Rate: 90.91%. First Launch Date: 1958-07-11. Last Launch Date: 1958-09-02. Launch data is: complete. Payload: 57 kg (125 lb). Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 365.000 kN (82,055 lbf). Total Mass: 3,330 kg (7,340 lb). Core Diameter: 0.58 m (1.90 ft). Total Length: 17.50 m (57.40 ft).

1958 July 11 - Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Vehicle: Jason. LV Configuration: Jason J-A. FAILURE: Failure.

• Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF AFSWC. Apogee: 20 km (12 mi). References: 1713.

• Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 20 km (12 mi). References: 1713.

• Test mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 750 km (460 mi). In 3-week period, 19 five-stage Argo E5 sounding rockets were launched in USAF-NACA program to measure radiation caused by Project Argus, rockets reaching 500-mile altitude and were launched from Wallops Island, AMR, and Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico. References: 17, 1713.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 693 km (430 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 937 km (582 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 817 km (507 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 815 km (506 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 878 km (545 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 745 km (462 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 817 km (507 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 830 km (510 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 825 km (512 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 699 km (434 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 789 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 789 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• Nuclear Observation mission Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 800 km (490 mi). References: 1592.

• 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.

• Alway, Peter, Rockets of the World, Saturn Press, Ann Arbor, 1995. ISBN: 0962787655. Comprehensive account of world rocketry, from the beginning 'til now, from sounding rockets to Saturns. Oriented toward rocket modellers, with accurate drawings and color guides. More at amazon.com...