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Viking (rocket)
Viking was a series of twelve sounding rockets designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company under the direction of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Designed to supersede the German V-2 as a research vehicle, the Viking was the most advanced large, liquid-fueled rocket developed in the United States in the late 1940s, providing much engineering experience while returning valuable scientific data from the edge of space between 1949 and 1955. Viking 4, launched in 1950, was the first sounding rocket to be launched from the deck of a ship.
After twelve flights, the Viking was adapted into the first stage for the Vanguard satellite launch vehicle, which launched America's second satellite into orbit in 1958.
After World War II, the United States Army experimented with captured German V-2 rockets as part of the Hermes program. The number of V-2s available for all research was limited and Hermes was an Army project. The U.S. Navy had the need to develop advanced missiles for both weapons and research purposes. The U.S. Navy issued a contract 21 August 1946 to the Glenn L. Martin Company for a series of 10 large liquid-fueled rockets. The intent was to provide an independent U.S. capability in rocketry, and to provide a vehicle better suited to scientific research. Originally dubbed "Neptune," it was renamed "Viking" in 1947 to avoid confusion with the Lockheed P-2 Neptune. The Viking was the most advanced large, liquid-fueled rocket being developed in the U.S. at the time.
The Viking was roughly half the size, in terms of mass and power, of the V-2. Both were actively guided rockets, fueled with the same propellant (Ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen), which were fed to a single large pump-fed engine by two turbine-driven pumps. The Reaction Motors XLR10-RM-2 engine was the largest liquid-fueled rocket engine developed in the United States up to that time, producing 92.5 kN (20,800 lbf) (sea level) and 110.5 kN (24,800 lbf) (vacuum) of thrust. Isp was 179.6 s (1.761 km/s) and 214.5 s (2.104 km/s) respectively, with a mission time of 103 seconds. As was also the case for the V-2, hydrogen peroxide was converted to steam to drive the turbopump that fed fuel and oxidizer into the engine. XLR-10-RM-2 was regeneratively cooled.
Viking pioneered important innovations over the V-2. One of the most significant for rocketry was the use of a gimbaled thrust chamber which could be swiveled from side to side on two axes for pitch and yaw control, dispensing with the inefficient and somewhat fragile graphite vanes in the engine exhaust used by the V-2. The rotation of the engine on the gimbals was controlled by gyroscopic inertial reference; this type of guidance system was invented by Robert H. Goddard amongst others, who had partial success with it before World War II intervened. Roll control was by use of the turbopump exhaust to power reaction control system (RCS) jets on the fins. Compressed gas jets stabilized the vehicle after the main power cutoff. Similar devices are now extensively used in large, steerable rockets and in space vehicles. Another improvement was that initially the alcohol tank, and later the LOX tank also, were built integral with the outer skin, saving weight. The structure was also largely aluminum, as opposed to steel used in the V-2, thus reducing weight.
Vikings 1 through 7 were slightly longer (about 15 m (49 ft)) than the V-2, but with a straight cylindrical body only 81 centimetres (32 in) in diameter, making the rocket quite slender. They had fairly large fins similar to those on the V-2. Vikings 8 through 14 were built with an enlarged airframe of improved design. The diameter was increased to 114 centimetres (45 in), while the length was reduced to 13 m (43 ft), altering the missile's "pencil shape". The fins were made much smaller and triangular. The added diameter meant more fuel and more weight, but the "mass ratio", of fueled to empty mass, was improved to about 5:1, a record for the time.
On 3 May 1949, after two static firings (11 March and 25 April), the first Viking rocket took off from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Its engine fired for 55 seconds, ten seconds short of the hoped-for maximum of 65, but the rocket flew on course and reached an altitude of 51 mi (82 km)—deemed a good start to the program.
Viking 2, launched four months later, also suffered from premature engine cutoff and only made it to 33 mi (53 km). Both had suffered from leaks in their turbines, the intense heat of the steam breaking the seal of the turbine casing. The solution was to weld the casing shut, there being no reason to access the turbine wheel again after a flight.
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Viking (rocket) AI simulator
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Viking (rocket)
Viking was a series of twelve sounding rockets designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company under the direction of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Designed to supersede the German V-2 as a research vehicle, the Viking was the most advanced large, liquid-fueled rocket developed in the United States in the late 1940s, providing much engineering experience while returning valuable scientific data from the edge of space between 1949 and 1955. Viking 4, launched in 1950, was the first sounding rocket to be launched from the deck of a ship.
After twelve flights, the Viking was adapted into the first stage for the Vanguard satellite launch vehicle, which launched America's second satellite into orbit in 1958.
After World War II, the United States Army experimented with captured German V-2 rockets as part of the Hermes program. The number of V-2s available for all research was limited and Hermes was an Army project. The U.S. Navy had the need to develop advanced missiles for both weapons and research purposes. The U.S. Navy issued a contract 21 August 1946 to the Glenn L. Martin Company for a series of 10 large liquid-fueled rockets. The intent was to provide an independent U.S. capability in rocketry, and to provide a vehicle better suited to scientific research. Originally dubbed "Neptune," it was renamed "Viking" in 1947 to avoid confusion with the Lockheed P-2 Neptune. The Viking was the most advanced large, liquid-fueled rocket being developed in the U.S. at the time.
The Viking was roughly half the size, in terms of mass and power, of the V-2. Both were actively guided rockets, fueled with the same propellant (Ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen), which were fed to a single large pump-fed engine by two turbine-driven pumps. The Reaction Motors XLR10-RM-2 engine was the largest liquid-fueled rocket engine developed in the United States up to that time, producing 92.5 kN (20,800 lbf) (sea level) and 110.5 kN (24,800 lbf) (vacuum) of thrust. Isp was 179.6 s (1.761 km/s) and 214.5 s (2.104 km/s) respectively, with a mission time of 103 seconds. As was also the case for the V-2, hydrogen peroxide was converted to steam to drive the turbopump that fed fuel and oxidizer into the engine. XLR-10-RM-2 was regeneratively cooled.
Viking pioneered important innovations over the V-2. One of the most significant for rocketry was the use of a gimbaled thrust chamber which could be swiveled from side to side on two axes for pitch and yaw control, dispensing with the inefficient and somewhat fragile graphite vanes in the engine exhaust used by the V-2. The rotation of the engine on the gimbals was controlled by gyroscopic inertial reference; this type of guidance system was invented by Robert H. Goddard amongst others, who had partial success with it before World War II intervened. Roll control was by use of the turbopump exhaust to power reaction control system (RCS) jets on the fins. Compressed gas jets stabilized the vehicle after the main power cutoff. Similar devices are now extensively used in large, steerable rockets and in space vehicles. Another improvement was that initially the alcohol tank, and later the LOX tank also, were built integral with the outer skin, saving weight. The structure was also largely aluminum, as opposed to steel used in the V-2, thus reducing weight.
Vikings 1 through 7 were slightly longer (about 15 m (49 ft)) than the V-2, but with a straight cylindrical body only 81 centimetres (32 in) in diameter, making the rocket quite slender. They had fairly large fins similar to those on the V-2. Vikings 8 through 14 were built with an enlarged airframe of improved design. The diameter was increased to 114 centimetres (45 in), while the length was reduced to 13 m (43 ft), altering the missile's "pencil shape". The fins were made much smaller and triangular. The added diameter meant more fuel and more weight, but the "mass ratio", of fueled to empty mass, was improved to about 5:1, a record for the time.
On 3 May 1949, after two static firings (11 March and 25 April), the first Viking rocket took off from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Its engine fired for 55 seconds, ten seconds short of the hoped-for maximum of 65, but the rocket flew on course and reached an altitude of 51 mi (82 km)—deemed a good start to the program.
Viking 2, launched four months later, also suffered from premature engine cutoff and only made it to 33 mi (53 km). Both had suffered from leaks in their turbines, the intense heat of the steam breaking the seal of the turbine casing. The solution was to weld the casing shut, there being no reason to access the turbine wheel again after a flight.