Viking Rocket Program
After the end of WWII, Rosen worked at the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where he was involved in the definition of alternative designs for high-altitude sounding rockets, both for scientific research on the upper atmosphere, and for development of liquid rocket technology for military purposes, following the German introduction of the large V-2 rocket weapon.
He became NRL project manager for the Viking rocket, which was the first large US liquid-fueled rocket. Roughly half the size, in terms of mass and power, of the V-2, the Viking improved upon it in several important respects. Both were actively guided, and fueled with the same propellants (alcohol and liquid oxygen ), which were fed to a single rocket engine by turbine-driven pumps. The Viking airframe was designed and built under contract to NRL by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The engine, built by Reaction Motors Inc (RMI) of New Jersey, was the largest liquid-fueled rocket engine developed in the United States up to that time. It produced 89 kN (20000 lbf) of thrust. As was also the case for the V-2, hydrogen peroxide was converted to steam to drive the turbo-pump that fed fuel and LOX into the engine.
In a series of twelve flights between September 1949 and February 1955, Viking rockets explored the characteristics of the atmosphere above 30 km, and set a number of performance records, including the highest altitude, 158 miles (254 km), reached by an American single stage rocket up to that time.
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