Orion (rocket)
| File:Hawk sounding rocket.jpg One of the first Orion rockets (HAWK at the time) shortly after launch. | |
| Function | sounding rocket[1] |
|---|---|
| Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 555: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | NASA |
| Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 555: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | United States |
| Size | |
| Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 555: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | 5.60 m |
| Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 555: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | 0.35 m |
| Stages | 1 |
| Launch history | |
| Launch sites | Wallops, White Sands, Poker Flat, Andoya, Esrange, Barreira do Inferno |
| First stage | |
| Thrust | 7 kN |
Orion is the designation of a small American sounding rocket. The Orion has a length of 5.60 meters, a diameter of 0.35 m, a launch weight of 400 kg, a launch thrust of 7 kN and a ceiling of 85 kilometers. The Orion, built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, is also used as an upper stage of sounding rockets, usually paired with a Terrier missile as the first stage,[2][3][4] although Nike, Taurus and VS-30 rockets are also used.[5]
Two Orion versions exist:[5]
- Orion, using a Aerojet M22E8 dual-thrust motor (from the MIM-23A Hawk missile).
- Improved Orion using a Aerojet M112 dual-thrust motor (from the MIM-23B I-Hawk missile).
The sounding rocket is launched from Wallops Flight Facility, White Sands, Poker Flat Rocket Range, Andoya Rocket Range, Esrange and Barreira do Inferno.[2][6][5]
Incidents
[edit | edit source]A lightning storm over the Wallops launch pad on 9 June 1987 ignited a NASA Orion rocket and 2 other sounding rockets. The Orion flew horizontally about 300 feet into the ocean. The sounding rockets rose to around 15,000 feet altitude, then fell about 2 miles from the launch pad. No persons were hurt in the incident.[7]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]-
Orion carrying experiments developed by students (June 8, 2006)
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Improved Orion scheme
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Improved Orion just after launch.
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Improved Orion launch
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Patricia Tanner, Update, Air & Space/Smithsonian, Vol. 2 No. 3 (August/September 1987), p. 21
