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EXCEPTION REQUESTED FOR PUBLICATION AS A NASA PiiBLICATION
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This i s a brief t e c h n i c a l note.
It c o v e r s o n l y one sounding r o c k e t f i r i n g
f o r which s u f f i c i e n t detailed ir?formaticr. w a s a v a i I e b L e t+ w k e a comparison
between t h e o r e t i c a l and a c t u a l performance.
T h i s meager information does n o t
warrant t h e p u b l i c a t i o n as a NASA p u b l i c a t i o n .
However, p o t e n t i a l e x p e r i m e n t e r s
who are l i k e l y t o use t h e Nike-Apache should be p e r m i t t e d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o
I
e v a l u a t e t h e r e s u l t s of an actual f i r i n g and e s t a b l i s h t h e degree of p r e d i c t a b i l i t y and, hence, confidence i n t h , i s Sounding Rocket's performance.
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C/COMPARIS.QN OF-T-HEORETI(;AL_~.ACTUALNIKE-APACHE SGLWiDING XGCKET PERFORMANCE_)
D. W. DEMBROW AND L. B. JAMIESON
Introduction
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The Nike-Apache v e h i c l e ( s e e F i g u r e 1) i s a two-stage
unguided sounding r o c k e t c o n s i s t i n g of a Nike b o o s t e r f o r t h e f i r s t stage and
an Apache second s t a g e .
I t h a s been r e c e n t l y added t o t h e NASA r e p e r t o i r e of
sounding r o c k e t s and d e s c r i b e d i n d e t a i l i n References 1 and 2 .
Nike-Apache, NASA No. 14.108 G I , was f i r e d a t Wallops I s l a n d , V i r g i n i a ,
on March 9 , 1963.
The v e h i c l e was equipped w i t h t e l e m e t r y t u r n s t i l e a n t e n n a e
0
and c a r r i e d a 76 pound payload.
The launcher w a s set a t 108 azimuth and
75.7
e l e v a t i o n t o c o r r e c t . f o r wind, the proposed launch a n g l e being 80
The actual t r a j e c t o r y , as determined from r a d a r p l o t s , w a s compared w i t h
t h e o r e t i c a l trajectories computed f o r t h e Nike-Apache u s i n g t h e given payload,
w e i g h t s , t h r u s t s , and d r a g c o n d i t i o n s .
T h i s comparison i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e
0
e f f e c t i v e launch a n g l e w a s s l i g h t l y more t h a n 83
The a c t u a l t r a j e c t o r y w a s o b t a i n e d by smoothing measurements from two
separate radar plots.
C o r r e c t i o n s were made f o r t h e d i s t a n c e between t h e
r a d a r s i t e s , b u t n o t f o r t h e d i s t a n c e from t h e r a d a r s i t e s t o t h e launch s i t e
(about 1/2 m i l e ) .
The t h e o r e t i c a l t r a j e c t o r y was determined by e x t r a p o l a t i o n
from a s e r i e s of computed t r a j e c t o r i e s having sea l e v e l launch a n g l e s r a n g i n g
0
from 76 t o 82
in 2
i n t e r v a l s t o o b t a i n the 83
launch a n g l e e q u i v a l e n t .
The theoretical t r a j e c t o r i e s were computed u s i n g t h e e q u a t i o n s of motion
a p p l y i n g z e r o - l i f t , no-wind c o n d i t i o n s f o r a s p h e r i c a l , n o n - r o t a t i n g e a r t h
i.e.,
w e i g h t , t h r u s t , and drag.
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A computer program a p p l y i n g an n - s t a g e two-
d i m e n s i o n a l p o i n t mass method was used on a n IBM 7094 computer t o compute
p o i n t - b y - p o i n t v a l u e s of t h e t h e o r e t i c a l t r a j e c t o r y .
applied :
The f o l l o w i n g c o n d i t i o n s
- 2 -
Phase 1
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Nike Boost
Gross launch weight
1611.5 pounds
Sea l e v e l launch
Nike burning time
3.5 seconds
Con s t a n t t h r u s t
Constant mass flow rate
Drag d u r i n g burning (see F i g u r e 3 )
S e p a r a t i o n a t end of Nike burning
Phase 2
--
Apache Coasting
Coast f o r 16.5 seconds a f t e r s e p a r a t i o n
Drag d u r i n g c o a s t phase (see F i g u r e 4 )
Phase 3
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Apache Burning
Weight a t 2nd s t a g e i g n i t i o n
293.5 pounds
I g n i t i o n 20 seconds a f t e r l i f t - o f f
Burning t i m e
6.4 seconds
V a r i a b l e t h r u s t ( see F i g u r e 5)
Drag d u r i n g burning ( s e e F i g u r e 4)
Phase 4
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Apache Coasting
Drag, same as Phase 2
Atmospheric l i m i t
Results
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400,000 f e e t ARDC 1959
The r e s u l t s are shown i n F i g u r e 2.
I t can be seen t h a t t h e
a c t u a l and t h e o r e t i c a l t r a j e c t o r i e s d i s a g r e e s l i g h t l y .
The peak a l t i t u d e of
t h e t h e o r e t i c a l t r a j e c t o r y i s h i g h e r than t h e a c t u a l by a b o u t 3 1 / 2 miles i n
a b o u t 100 m i l e s .
The r e s u l t s of o t h e r i n v e s t i g a t o r s who have computed t h e o -
r e t i c a l t r a j e c t o r i e s f o r t h e Nike-Apache Sounding Rocket and t h e i r p r e d i c t e d
- 3 I
a l t i t u d e s a r e a l s o shown i n Figure 2.
The r e s u l t s from Reference 1 would have
p r e d i c t e d about n i n e m i l e s h i g h e r than t h e a c t u a l peak a l t i t u d e .
The results'
estimated from Reference 2 (when a d j u s t e d f o r t h e a d d i t i o n a l d r a g of t u r n s t i l e
antennae) would be around 20 miles higher than t h e a c t u a l peak a l t i t u d e .
Reference 1
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Nike-Apache Performance Handbook
NASA GSFC X616-62-103
Reference 2
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Performance Summary f o r t h e Nike-Apache
Sounding Rocket Vehicle
Report No. AST/ElR-00.93
Chance Vought
Under C o n t r a c t NASA-1-1013
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