This is the Aerobee 350, the last and largest of the family of solid-fuel boosted liquid-propellant Aerobee sounding rockets for undertaking short-term scientific experiments in the upper atmosphere. The Aerobee 350 carried payloads of 150-500 pounds up to altitudes of 294 and 207 miles, respectively.
The rocket used a cluster of four standard Aerobee 150 motors with a total thrust of 18,844 pounds. This specimen lacks its booster. The Aerobee program produced about a dozen models and lasted from 1947 to 1985. It obtained data on upper atmospheric densities, compositions, radiations, micrometeorites, airglow spectra, aurora phenomena, and astronomical phenomena.
This object was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1997 from the U.S. Air Force Museum.
Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets
Manufacturer
Aerojet General Corp.
Dimensions
Other: 2ft x 28ft 5 1/2in. (60.96 x 867.41cm)
Materials
Body, steel; upper section of body, towards nose and extending 49 inches from top rim, non-ferrous metal; fairings, four on sides, annodized aluminum; nozzles, probably stainless steel; red rubber on base, with cutouts around nozzles; cork insulation along combustion chamber length, secured around body with steel Philip's head screws; fins, aluminum, with dark brown wood inserts in leading edges; cork inlays in some fins areas. Nose, conical payload section, (although a dummy or mockup section in this specimen), aluminum; instrumentation (stabilization and control), magnesium with trace amounts of aluminum, and extending to length of 47 inches from base of nosecone section Adapter, all steel.
Inventory Number
A19970609000
Credit Line
Transferred from U.S. Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
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