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Author
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Topic: Anybody recognize this missile?
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heng44
Member Posts: 3386
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-25-2005 11:09 AM
   
I am trying to identify what is in this photo. Can anybody help? It looks like a pretty small missile, like Poseidon maybe? Just a wild guess...
[This message has been edited by heng44 (edited June 03, 2005).] |
Spacepsycho
Member Posts: 818
From: Huntington Beach, Calif.
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted 05-25-2005 02:43 PM
Hi Ed,Check out this site, it's got most of the US missile programs.
http://www.spaceline.org/rocketsum.html |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-25-2005 05:23 PM
Minuteman 4? |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-25-2005 05:47 PM
Gut feel says Pershing 1A, but I can't be sure... |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 05-25-2005 06:40 PM
I think Pershing too, comparing it to some photos, but a lot of them look alike. They frequently changed the nosecones on different tests.------------------
-Ben www.LaunchPhotography.com |
heng44
Member Posts: 3386
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-26-2005 04:28 AM
Thanks for the help, guys. I am leaning toward Pershing...Ed |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2912
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-28-2005 12:46 PM
Hey gang--This is an early Polaris Flight Test Vehicle (FTV) ballistic missile, built by Lockheed at the time, from the old Cape Pad #25A from 1958/59, from what I can briefly see from the scan. Certainly not one of the early X-17 vehicles, nor Pershing, Minuteman or Poseidon as those are different in markings and other various features. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-28-2005 01:09 PM
Wow, as always, Ken has the definitive answer! |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 05-28-2005 01:13 PM
Here is the only photo labeled as a PFTV I can find, but it may be wrong:
http://www.spaceline.org/galleries/rockets/017.jpg.html They have photos of pad 25 with a Polaris from 1962 here: https://www.patrick.af.mil/heritage/LaFacility/CPX25-29.htm The pad in the original photo looks enclosed, as opposed to the open scaffolding. Did they remove it around the time?
[This message has been edited by Ben (edited May 28, 2005).] |
heng44
Member Posts: 3386
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-30-2005 02:12 PM
Thanks everybody.
Ed |
spaceuk
Member Posts: 2113
From: Staffs, UK
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 06-01-2005 09:33 AM
Juno.Based on the fact that Mercury Redstone's were launched from same area and they used a "cherry picker" for access and the general shape and dimensions - using the 'man' of 6ft as a rough guide - to measure the vehicle in images.
Phill
UK |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2912
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 06-01-2005 10:07 AM
Hey guys--Back online for just a few moments as we haven't gotten a new computer installed yet at the home-office. For Ben, yes, I am very much aware of the photo-scan that you have provided with your last post, however, be advised that isn't a Polaris FTV at all! The caption is mistaken as I have seen other sources also "label" that research rocket as an early Polaris A-1 test vehicle. In fact, it was one of the 37 flight-tested X-17 reentry test rockets that were flown between May 1955 until March 1957. All were launched from Pad #3 at the Cape, which by the way, was the launch site area of the first Cape-rocket launch ever from July 1950. There were no heavy service or umbilical structures used at Pad 3. In fact, the U.S. Army constructed a service tower on site out of paint scaffolding purchased from Orlando, FL, that was more than 55 miles away. At that time, a pine telephone pole served as an umbilical tower. Army-issued mattresses were used to catch the umbilical connections as they fell away from the Bumper rocket configuration at liftoff. Ha, can you believe it (all true)! |
spaceuk
Member Posts: 2113
From: Staffs, UK
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 06-01-2005 10:33 AM
I was a bit concerned by the service structure in Ed's image.
I've had a good scour through my photos and found this POLARIS Test vehicvle photo taken at Cape way back .........If you note the service gantry has the same number of floors and window locations as Ed's photo. Must be a Polaris Test Vehicle :-)
Phill
UK |
heng44
Member Posts: 3386
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 06-01-2005 10:39 AM
I think Phill is right!Ed |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2912
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 06-04-2005 09:56 AM
Just for the record so-to-speak, in summary, Ed's first scan that started this thread is a Polaris "FTV," however, this was an obsolete Polaris model--a special flight test vehicle--used for Stellar Acquisition Feasibility Flights (STAFF) that tested experimental inertial guidance equipment, in which this test was from a land-launched ballistic missile from Pad 25. Ben's scan, while not labeled or captioned correctly, depicts the X-17 on Pad 3. The Lockheed-built X-17 gathered important data about reentry into Earth's atmosphere, vital at that time (from 1955-57), in designing nuclear nose cones and manned spacecraft development. Special equipment in the X-17's nose measured conditions encountered during reenty and transmitted their findings to ground stations following the rocket's 9-mile up-and-down flight. The X-17 was the prelude to the more advanced reentry testing by the later Fire and Asset vehicles. Phill's recent scan on this thread, in fact, isn't a Polaris FTV at all. This picture depicts a Navy Polaris A-1 ballistic missile that was photographed on March 9, 1960, at Pad 25. Directly behind the Polaris and her servicing structure, looking due north, you can clearly see 2 of the 3 gantries from Pads 5 and 26. It was from Pad 5 that Shepard and Grissom became the first Americans to ride a rocket into space. I hope this helps to clear things up a bit. |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 10-21-2005 12:22 AM
It's been a while since this was settled, but I wanted to say I found this photo on a website...in fact a very great website I recently discovered:
http://www.apollomissionphotos.com/index_homepage_special.html About half way down is that same Polaris FTV photo labeled as such. Regardless, check out the website. There are a great wealth of old photo I have not seen before. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3386
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 10-21-2005 07:20 AM
Ben, we have come full-circle, as it was Jerome from Apollomissionphotos.com who originally asked me this question.Thanks,
Ed |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 10-21-2005 08:10 AM
:-)I just came across it and remembered it was the one you asked about. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 10-25-2005 12:04 AM
By The Way ... Jerome offers an excellent service and he always ships the photos well-packed ;-) |
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