Viking (rocket)

The Viking rocket was derived from the A4 and American sounding rocket was successfully launched 1949-1957 14 times. Was developed and built the rocket by the Glenn L. Martin Company (now Lockheed - Martin). It was like the A4 rocket powered by liquid oxygen and alcohol.

The start of the Viking 4 on May 11, 1950, on the American side of the first flight of an object into outer space, as measured by the international view that space begins at an altitude of 100 kilometers. The Viking 4 reached an altitude of 169 kilometers. Earlier starts only reached a height of 80 kilometers, were regarded by the U.S. as the edge of space.

On 24 May 1954, Viking 11 reached a height of 254 km altitude record for a single-stage rocket on. Launched on October 5, 1954 Viking had a camera on board, which made ​​the first images of a tropical storm from a height of at least 160 km. The images showed an area of ​​about 1600 km in diameter.

The Viking 1 to 7 had a length of 14.90 meters, a fin span of 2.80 meters, a diameter of 0.81 meters and a launch mass of 4.5 tonnes. The initial thrust of 93 kN. The Viking 8 to 12 had a modified design, they were shorter and had a larger diameter, which led to a more favorable ratio of the rocket mass for fuel and an increase of the achievable flight altitude.