Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 11 in. wide x 3 ft. 4 3/4 in. long x 5 1/4 in. diameter (27.94 x 103.51 x 13.34cm)
Materials:
Overall, steel; aluminum propellant and other lines; plastic insulated wires
This is the pre-packaged liquid fuel Patriot rocket motor for the planned air-to-surface long range (75 miles) Corvus missile for the U.S. Navy, to be launched by carrier-borne aircraft against enemy ships or tactical land targets. The motor, of 1,030 pounds of thrust, was developed by the Reaction Motors Division of the Thiokol Chemical Corporation (RMD).
The pre-packaged motor concept was pioneered by RMD by the mid-1950's and used storable, hypergolic (self-igniting) propellants. It was thus a simple system but much more powerful than comparable-sized solid-fuel motors. Test flights were made in 1960, but Corvus was cancelled four months later. This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1977 from the Thiokol Chemical Corp.
Gift of Thiokol Chemical Corporation
