Date: ca. 1957
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 1ft 6in. x 6ft 4 1/2in. x 8in. (45.72 x 194.31 x 20.32cm)
Materials:
Body, stainless steel; fins, extruded Dural aluminum; motor, internal, steel; shiny silver band around larger diameter section below nose, aluminum; gray band, non-ferrous metal; band above, steel; nose, Inconel
This is the Cajun second stage of the Nike-Cajun sounding rocket. The Nike first stage (not shown here) was a modified solid-fuel booster rocket originally developed by the Army for the Nike-Ajax anti-aircraft missile system. Scientific instruments-ranging in weight from ten to one hundred pounds-carried in the Cajun's nose took measurements of the upper atmosphere. The Cajun, launched from a Nike-Ajax launcher, could reach a maximum altitude of fifty miles. The motor for the Cajun, built by the Thiokol Chemical Corporation, produced 9,620 pounds of thrust for three seconds.
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics donated an entire Nike-Cajun sounding rocket to the Smithsonian in 1958.
Transferred to the Smithsonian from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
