Launch of the Viking No. 9 Sounding Rocket

The Viking was the U.S. Navy’s refinement of the V-2. It was used in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a sounding rocket and test launch vehicle for Project Vanguard, which sought to launch the first artificial satellite into low Earth orbit. This photo shows the launch of the Viking No. 9 sounding rocket on December 15, 1952 from White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico.