Orion (rocket)

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]

This article is about the American sounding rocket. For the Argentinian sounding rocket, see Orión (rocket). For the spacecraft, see Orion (spacecraft). For other uses, see Orion.
Orion
One of the first Orion rockets (HAWK at the time) shortly after launch.
Functionsounding rocket[1]
ManufacturerNASA
Country of originUnited States
Size
Diameter
  • 0.356 m
Mass
  • 400 kg

Incidents

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.[3]

References
  1. International Astronautical Federation; United Nations. Office for Outer Space Affairs; International Institute of Space Law (2007). Highlights in Space 2006: Progress in Space Science, Technology and Applications, International Cooperation and Space Law. United Nations Publications. pp. 58–. ISBN 978-92-1-101147-0.
  2. Wade, Mark. "Orion Sounding Rocket". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  3. Patricia Tanner, Update, Air & Space/Smithsonian, Vol. 2 No. 3 (August/September 1987), p. 21


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