An experiment where an actual ‘artificial meteorite’ was flown. This was a 5.8 g steel pellet, which was driven into the atmosphere at 6 km/sec by a ‘seventh stage’, a shaped charge that accelerated the pellet after burnout of the rocket’s six stage. This experiment provided a known reference by which the size of actual meteoroids could be measured according to the luminance of their trails.
Launch Overview
Window Open
05:56 UTC
Window Close
05:56 UTC
Lift Off
Apr 21, 1961 · 05:56 UTC
Launch Facility
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Launch Pad
Unknown Pad
Target Orbit
Suborbital
Payload Overview
Customer
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
An experiment where an actual ‘artificial meteorite’ was flown. This was a 5.8 g steel pellet, which was driven into the atmosphere at 6 km/sec by a ‘seventh stage’, a shaped charge that accelerated the pellet after burnout of the rocket’s six stage. This experiment provided a known reference by which the size of actual meteoroids could be measured according to the luminance of their trails.
Height
LEO Payload
Total Launches
Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Unknown Pad
Launch Overview
Window Open
05:56 UTC
Window Close
05:56 UTC
Lift Off
Apr 21, 1961 · 05:56 UTC
Launch Facility
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Launch Pad
Unknown Pad
Target Orbit
Suborbital
Payload Overview
Customer
National Aeronautics and Space Administration