Hello All,

I am looking for data on an early--and perhaps the earliest--large-quantity (in terms of production, and of use) meteorological rocket, and on a high-performance, low-drag version of it:

A rocket that I first saw (not via any photographs, but a good drawing and a flight events diagram) in Erik Bergaust's 1959 book "Rockets of the Navy," was the HASP (High Altitude Sounding Projectile, see: http://www.astronautix.com/l/loki.html ). This was perhaps the first Loki-Dart meteorological rocket, which used some of the many Loki rocket motors--mated to four-finned, differential drag-separated explosive dart warheads--that the U.S. Army had tested, and ultimately abandoned, as an anti-aircraft unguided barrage rocket, deciding to develop the larger, guided Nike (later re-named Nike-Ajax) and Hawk surface-to-air missiles instead, and:

The Army's unwanted Loki rocket motors were just what the Navy needed. Mated with darts (maybe even the dart warheads, after they were demilitarized [had the explosive and the detonator removed, that is]?) that coasted to apogee, then split open (in staves--four of them, if memory serves), releasing a cylindrical, radio-transmitting instrument package that descended under a metallized--for easy radar tracking, to gather wind data--gas-inflated spherical plastic film ballute (a balloon-parachute decelerator and drag/drogue device), the resulting HASP gave the Navy a convenient, simple, reliable, and cheap upper atmosphere--up to 20 miles altitude--meteorological sounding rocket system. Also:

It could be fired from a spiral-railed (like rifling in a gun barrel) launcher on land (there is one of these Loki-Dart launchers--which hasn't been used for decades--at the Poker Flat Research Range), or from a 5-inch ship deck gun, with fly-away bore riders on the rocket motor's--and the dart's--fin tips, which engaged the rifling in the gun's barrel. When fired in this way, the HASP--as shown in a drawing in Erik Bergaust's "Rockets of the Navy"--had a 5-inch shell's brass casing, and a short cylindrical adapter, atop its open (top) end--which was affixed to the lower end of the Loki rocket motor. The brass shell casing didn't contain a normal projectile-propelling charge, but just a pin-fired initiator (with perhaps a small quantity of gunpowder, ignited by the initiator), which was just sufficient to ignite the Loki rocket motor. The Loki rocket motor/instrument package-containing dart HASP vehicle, under its own power, flew out of the 5-inch gun's barrel, flinging the bore riders away via centrifugal force as the rocket exited the barrel. I am not sure if this was the same HASP vehicle (the name "HASP" was applied to a modified shell used for meteorological soundings, as well as to at least two Loki-Dart variants) that is covered in Peter Alway's "Rockets of the World." As well:

In the late 1950s, another boosted-dart Loki vehicle, called the Oriole (a Loki I rocket motor, which boosted a finless, differential drag-separated, two-diameter dart, which was longer than the other boosted darts [the Oriole's dart was rather like the Centuri Excalibur model rocket kit, but without any fins], see: https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4401/app-a.htm ), was developed by the University of Maryland (under the direction of Professor S. Fred Singer, if memory serves), in partnership with the U.S. Army Signal Corps (several Oriole firings at Wallops Island, in August and September of 1958, are listed *here*: http://www.astronautix.com/l/loki.html ). The Oriole's finless dart (its narrower front portion was solid steel, I think, for aerodynamic stability, while its instruments and radio transmitter were housed in its larger-diameter rear tube, which had a tail cone at its rear, to reduce drag) could coast up to 80 miles. (The problem with the Oriole, due perhaps to its high fineness ratio, was that--because it was spun rapidly by its launcher, at launch--it sometimes suffered from inertial coupling [as some early supersonic aircraft did], immediately after launch; one Oriole almost hit a building at the Wallops Island launch site, which made it unwelcome there... :-) ) Does anyone here have any scale data on it?

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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NAR #54895 SR

HASP data . . .

Dave F.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Pic of an ORIOLE . . .

Dave F.

Attached Thumbnails

 

LOKI data . . .

Dave F.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Attached Files

	Loki Drawing.tif (75.7 KB, 9 views)
	Loki Transistion Section.tif (74.6 KB, 8 views)

Wow--Thank You for posting the HASP drawings (I'd never seen those particular ones before!), the Loki and Super Loki (rockoons?) drawings (which I'd also never seen before), and the Oriole photograph. (I've seen that one [and others], in Dr. Richard Morrow's book, "Small Sounding Rockets.") Argh...my copy got lost in the course of a move from my house to my apartment building--I hope he re-prints it, perhaps through a POD publisher like CreateSpace.com or Lulu.com this time, because his cost would be nothing (they make a percentage on each copy sold, paying the author the rest, plus they handle all of the order-taking and shipping), and he would retain the copyright to it.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Sorry I don't have much data . . . Still searching.

Dave F.

It's more than I have--and had seen, prior to a few minutes ago--I very much appreciate it (and I'm sure other YORF members will, too).

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

I also have "Ballute" data . . .

Dave F.

Sending you a PM . . .

Dave F.

Interesting--that sounds like the one shown in "Rockets of the Navy" (it can apparently be downloaded from *this* https://archive.org/details/rocketsofnavy00berg website, and hardcover copies are available on AbeBooks.com , Amazon.com , and elsewhere: https://www.google.com/search?q=Roc...e&ie=UTF-8#ip=1 ). If I can find my copy, I'll scan and post the page or two on the HASP. Also, this information might--I emphasize ^might^--enable the creation of a new generation of meteorological rockets and sounding rockets (I know some people "in the biz," and if I can be a successful 'match-maker,' something may come of it; I helped the Poker Flat Research Range obtain 232 older and retired HYDRA-70 [Mk66] rocket motors in this way, some years ago):

In the course of all of this Chinese spy balloon/UFO business, I found--in the Wikipedia article (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-9_Sidewinder ) about the AIM-9 Sidewinder--that about 110,000 of them have been made. Also, the AIM-7 Sparrow, which has also been produced in large quantities, is being phased out in favor of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. In addition, older "Marks" of the Sidewinder, AMRAAM, Patriot (the Malemute sounding rocket upper stage rocket motor is the Patriot motor), HARM, Standard, Standard ER (Extended Range), ATACMS (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM-140_ATACMS ) and other missiles and rockets (such as the HYDRA-70, Zuni, MLRS, HiMARS, etc.) are periodically withdrawn from service, either due to guidance system obsolescence or the rocket motors' ages, or both.

The rocket motors are designed to be stored and used over wide ranges of temperature and humidity, but they have limited rated lives under such tough conditions. Fortunately, if such withdrawn missiles' motors are stored in magazines with controlled temperature and humidity inside, they remain usable for sounding rockets indefinitely. In this connection:

The rocket motors of the smaller missiles and rockets could be used to create a new family of meteorological rockets, particularly boosted-dart ones. In fact, such a vehicle (called the Mesquito, because it was designed to investigate the parameters and time-variant phenomena of the mesosphere, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co4ylLWvVtQ , https://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallop...ain_w051208.pdf , and https://www.google.com/search?q=Mes...e&ie=UTF-8#ip=1 ) was designed to use surplus Army M26 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) solid propellant rocket motors, topped by appropriately-sized, instrumented darts. A low-drag, finless dart like that of the Oriole could further increase such vehicles' altitude capabilities. Sidewinder, Zuni, Sparrow, and AMRAAM motors could also be used in this way.

Such air-to-air missile motors could also be used--with ordinary nose cone-tipped payload cylinders--to create ground- and air-launched sounding rockets. Indeed, the Sparoair (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparoair and https://www.google.com/search?q=Spa...s-wiz-serp#ip=1 ) was such a two-stage (with both stages utilizing Sparrow rocket motors), air-launched vehicle. The larger surplus motors also hold great promise:

The ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System, see: http://www.military-today.com/missiles/atacms.htm and https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-u...ile-system.html ), which is what is called a quasi-ballistic missile (like the USAF's long-retired, air-launched SRAM, Short-Range Attack Missile; such missiles can fly ballistic trajectories, but because they remain in usably-dense, if tenuous, air for much of their flight paths, they can also shorten or lengthen their trajectories, and turn left or right to an extent), compares favorably with the V-2. (Its maximum warhead weight, 560 kg [1,234.59 lb.], is somewhat over half of the V-2's 1 tonne [1,000 kg], 1 metric ton payload weight [the minimum ATACMS warhead weight is 160 kg, or 352.74 lb.], but it is *much* smaller than the V-2 (24" in diameter and 13' long).

It could easily carry the 22" diameter Aerobee 350 reusable payload modules (payload modules--some dating back to the 1960s--that flew aboard the British Skylark fly today on the Brazilian VSB-30 sounding rocket, its "drop-in replacement," see: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSB-30 ) that fly today aboard the Terrier-Malemute and Terrier-Improved Malemute (see: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/...ml#.Y_C5i3bMIdV & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrier_Malemute ) sounding rockets. The ATACMS motor could also--perhaps retaining its movable fins and simplified inertial (or GPS, in later models) guidance system--(and maybe even its missile nose cone; some are already made to be eject-able), giving it precision-pointing astronomical telescope capabilities like those of the Aries guided sounding rocket--be boosted like the Malemute upper stage.

(The Precision Strike Missile [PrSM, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Strike_Missile and https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-u...ke-missile.html ], which is in development to replace the ATACMS [it has already flown successfully, and is projected to enter service in 2027], has a range of 310 miles!) But several thousand ATACMS missiles have been manufactured, and it appears that more will be produced soon. It is also in use by nine other nations, and it will be sold to five new users--Australia, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Lithuania, and Estonia, and:

The ATACMS has a maximum range of 186.411 miles with a 160 kg (352.74 lb.) payload, so--going by Tartaglia's Law--an ATACMS sounding rocket carrying the same payload mass should climb to 93.2 miles if fired vertically; even when fired for maximum range, it rises 46.6 miles. With the 1,234.59 pound maximum payload, a vertical firing would reach just over 39-3/4 miles, but an ATACMS could be boosted by a Terrier or Standard ER first stage motor when desired, to reach higher altitudes, and its payload weight range might be wider in such cases, and:

(The Precision Strike Missile could climb to 155 miles in a vertical shot--and probably higher--because all firings except, possibly, its very latest test flight [about which the Army has been rather coy, regarding the range it reached], were deliberately programmed to avoid attaining ranges beyond 499 kilometers [300 miles]. This was to avoid running afoul of the INF--Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty--which prohibits the development of ballistic missiles with ranges of 499 km to 5,000 km; in other words, no MRBMs through IRBMs [Medium through Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles].) Once the PrSM is in service, in the U.S. and in interested allied countries, the ATACMS will be phased out (at least in the U.S., at first), and they will become available for sounding rocket use.

I hope this information will be helpful.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR