Orion (rocket)

This article is about the American rocket. For the Argentine rocket, see Orion-1. For the spacecraft, see Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. For other rocketry subjects, see Orion in astronautics.

One of the first rocket Orion (HAWK at the time) shortly after launch.

Improved Orion rocket shortly after launch.

Orion is the designation of a small American sounding rocket. The Orion has a length of 5.60 meters, a diameter of 0.35 m, a launch weight of 400 kg, a launch thrust of 7 kN and a ceiling of 85 kilometers. The Orion, built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, is also used as an upper stage of sounding rockets, usually paired with a Terrier as the first stage.^[1]

Incidents

A lightning storm over the Wallops launch pad on 9 June 1987 ignited a NASA Orion rocket and 2 other sounding rockets. The Orion flew horizontally about 300 feet into the ocean. The sounding rockets rose to around 15,000 feet altitude, then fell about 2 miles from the launch pad. No persons were hurt in the incident.^[2]

References

↑ Wade, Mark. "Orion Sounding Rocket". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
↑ Patricia Tanner, Update, Air & Space/Smithsonian, Vol. 2 No. 3 (August/September 1987), p. 21

Non-military suborbital rocket engines and motors that have flown

Liquid fuel engines	BE-3 Ofen-B WAC Corporal XLR10 XLR99

Hybrid Propellant Engines	RocketMotorOne RocketMotorTwo

Solid Propellant Motors	1.5KS35000 Algol X-254 Altair Aerobee Alcor Asp Black Brant Castor Genius Improved Orion Malemute Orion Oriole Rohini S-20 S-30 S-31 S40TM S44M S-310 S-520 Talos Terrier

Related articles	Sub-orbital spaceflight Sub-orbital tourism Sounding rocket

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