In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico—May 1947. The U.S. Navy leased space at White Sands and began construction of a 150-foot launching tower that May for a streamlined new research rocket, the Aerobee. The rocket stood 19 feet high, compared to the 46.5-foot V-2. It carried 150 pounds of instruments instead of more than 1,000 pounds. It was Van Allen’s baby, “the realization of the dream that Professor Robert H. Goddard had when he began his pioneering work on rockets,” praised Homer Newell. • • • But White Sands Commanding Officer Colonel Harold Turner haltedconstructionoftheAerobeetoweronJune19andcalled in Van Allen for a stormy session on rocket safety. Unlike the V-2, the Aerobee had no guidance system. How did the U.S. Navy plan to keep it on the range? Turner wanted to know, especially in the wake of the misfire that sent a V-2 crashing into a cemetery in Juárez, Mexico. “It’s a fin-stabilized rocket,” said Van Allen, going over the design that featured four wide fins strutting like propellers from the base of the rocket. “It’s a hazard to the neighboring communities,” Turner countered.Andheorderedthetowertocomedown.VanAllen stalled the teardown by garnering Turner’s permission to get another opinion about the danger. He turned to the Aberdeen Proving Ground and Bob Kent, a ballistics engineer colleague who had helped test the proximity fuze. Kent looked over the Aerobee design and offered a simple solution. “Hesaidthatallyouhadtodowashaveanadjustabletower to counteract the wind on the direction of flight. He worked with me on a set of wind tables based on the prevailing winds that blow at White Sands,” Van Allen said. Those winds blew The Mighty Little Aerobee 7 from the southwest, so Kent and Van Allen rigged a three-legged tower with a hinge and a jack-screw that would tilt the rocket into the wind. The harder the wind blew, the more the rocket would tilt into it, essentially allowing the wind to push the rocket upright upon launch. Van Allen also designed a sky screen with a wire grid that could be used to visually track the rocket’s course from points to the south and east of the launch site. If the Aerobee veered off course, a radio command would destroy it. The simple approach promised to provide the necessary safeguard and Turner gave permission for the construction of the tower to proceed. While the Navy Bureau of Ordnance funded the compact Aerobee, the Naval Research Laboratory developed the Viking to carry on research in a rocket near in size to the V-2. Both the Viking and Aerobee research programs tooled up in 1947. It cost $450,000 to build and launch a single Viking rocket compared to $25,000 for the compact Aerobee. By 1950, the army, the navy, and the air force wereallusingVanAllen’slittle“workhorse”rocket.Itspawnedseveralvariants, such as the Aerobee-Hi with a 168-mile altitude peak. The Aerobee achieved more than a thousand research flights during several decades of service. In pressing for the new research rocket early in 1946, Van Allen exhibited a hallmark trait of his involvement in the space program: he planned ahead for the next program almost as soon as the current one got off the ground. As the V-2 hit its stride with an average of two launches a month in 1946 and 1947, APL and the other laboratory teams worked feverishly to complete instrument packages one step ahead of the next firing date. But just beyond the frantic pace, Van Allen saw the quick demise of the fledgling space science program while it depended on the limited supply of V-2s and the cost of shooting them. VanAllenapproachedTuvewiththeideaofmakingasmall,affordablerocket just for research, and Tuve suggested he survey the branches of the military and universities about interest in sustaining upper atmosphere research. Van Allen fielded his network of rocket panel contacts to garner support for his project. Militarycontactsalsoexpressedinterest,viewingthecompactAerobeeasaway to develop liquid-fuel propulsion technology for artillery weapons. As a result, the Navy Bureau of Ordnance contracted APL to supervise development of a research rocket that could deliver 150 pounds of payload to an altitude of 76 miles. Van Allen headed the group at APL that identified the relatively compact size, thrust, and other parameters for performance. The navy awarded the designandproductioncontractstoAerojetEngineeringinAzusa,California,and DouglasAircraftCompanyinSantaMonicainMay1946.Now,therocketneeded a name and Van Allen suggested “Aerobee,” a tip of the hat to both Aerojet and APL’s Bumblebee program developing surface-to...

Share