Terrapin
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American test vehicle. Terrapin sounding rockets were two-stage vehicles launched from Wallops Island. The Terrapin sounding rocket was developed by Republic Aviation under a National Security Agency contract for a University of Maryland project that allowed graduate students to study the upper atmosphere. The two-stage rocket used a Deacon motor with a slow-burn grain for the lower stage, and a TSI upper stage. The upper stage was equipped with low-drag swept stabilizing fins.
The two stage vehicle consisted of a Deacon first stage and T-55 second stage. The project was funded by the National Security Agency, the rocket developed by Republic Aviation, and flights were conducted by graduate students of the University of Maryland. The Deacon was modified to burn at half of its normal rate. NACA objected to Republic's stabilization fin design, but it worked well.
Payload: 3.50 kg (7.70 lb) to a 130 km altitude.
Related
- Family
- test vehicle
- Country
- USA
- Launch Sites
- Wallops Island
- Agency
- Republic
Chronology
6 events
1956 September 21
Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Terrapin.- Test mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, NSA. Apogee: 120 km (70 mi). First successful flight of a Terrapin sounding rocket at Wallops Island, which consisted of a Deacon and T55 rocket and carried a payload of 3 kg to a 120 km altitude..
1956 September 21
Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Deacon. Launch Vehicle: Terrapin. FAILURE: Second stage did not ignite..- Test mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, NSA. Apogee: 16 km (9 mi). First Terrpain launch attempt..