Launches of Captured V-2 Rockets in The USA After 1945
The Upper Atmosphere Research Panel conducted experiments on US flights of V-2s.
Rocket number | Time | Launch site | Pad | Maximum altitude (kilometres) | Remarks |
1946 | |||||
1 | 15 March 1946 | White Sands | n/a | Static test firing of V-2 Engine | |
2 | 16 April 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 5.5 | Radio cut-off 19.5 s after launch, Fin 4 failed prior to cut off |
3 | 10 May 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 112.6 | Nominal flight |
4 | 29 May 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 112.1 | Nominal flight |
5 | 13 June 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 117.4 | Nominal flight |
6 | 28 June 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 107.8 | Nose separation failure |
7 | 9 July 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 134.4 | Nominal performance |
8 | 19 July 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 4.824 | Oxygen pump exploded |
9 | 30 July 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 161.5 | Nominal performance |
10 | 15 August 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 6.4 | Radio cut-off 16.5 s after launch |
11 | 22 August 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 0 | Control failure led to cut-off command at 6.5s |
12 | 10 October 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 173.8 | Nominal performance |
13 | 24 October 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 104.6 | Sub-normal propulsion performance |
14 | 7 November 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 0.32 | Guidance failure preceded emergency cut-off at 31s |
15 | 21 November 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 101.4 | Sub-normal propulsion performance |
16 | 5 December 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 152.9 | Control system failed at altitude |
17 | 17 December 1946 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 183.4 | Rocket exploded at 440s. |
1947 | |||||
18 | 10 January 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 116.2 | Degraded performance led to roll rate of 60 rpm. |
19 | 23 January 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 49.9 | Degraded performance led to roll rate of 80 rpm. |
20 | 20 February 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 109.4 | Blossom 1 - Propulsion degraded at 55.5s. |
21 | 7 March 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 162.5 | Nominal performance |
22 | 1 April 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 129.2 | Nominal performance |
23 | 8 April 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 102.2 | Nominal performance |
24 | 17 April 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 142.4 | Successful test of ram-jet payload |
26 | 15 May 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 135.2 | Internal explosion at 64.3s. |
H-II # 0 | 29 May 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 79.3 | Hermes II prototype with dummy Organ ramjet test. Lost control after 4s and crashed outside range near Juarez, Mexico. |
29 | 10 July 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 16.25 | Early yaw led to termination at 32s. |
30 | 29 July 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 160.7 | Near vertical trajectory. |
28 | 6 September 1947 | USS Midway | 1.5 | Operation Sandy. Aircraft carrier launch successful. Exploded at 1524 m | |
27 | 9 October 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 156.1 | Internal explosion at 83.5s |
GE-Sp | 20 November 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 26.7 | GE technology proving flight |
28 | 8 December 1947 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 104.6 | Stable flight but less than planned altitude |
1948 | |||||
34 | 22 January 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 159.3 | Payload separation failure |
36 | 6 February 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 111 | Successfully manoeuvred by ground control for first 40s of flight |
39 | 19 March 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 5.5 | Low altitude flight prevented any data recovery |
25 | 2 April 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 144 | Three previous launch attempts failed in year prior. Excellent performance |
38 | 19 April 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 56 | Faulty steering led to high roll rate and then flight termination |
Bumper-1 | 13 May 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 127.3 | Bumper 1 Premature cut-off of WAC 2nd stage |
35 | 27 May 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 139.7 | Steady flight with low roll rate |
37 | 11 June 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 62.3 | Blossom 2 - Cut-off at 57.7s; payload separation at 96s |
40 | 26 July 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 86.9 | Turbine overspeed led to premature propellad cut-off at 61s. 2rpm roll began at 70s |
43 | 5 August 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 165.7 | Nominal performance |
Bumper-2 | 19 August 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 13.4 | Bumper 2 First stage failed due to propellant flow interruption |
33 | 2 September 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 150.6 | Vehicle broke-up at 370s at 84 km altitude. |
Bumper-3 | 30 September 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 150.3 | Bumper 3 WAC stage failed |
Bumper-4 | 1 November 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 4.8 | Bumper 4 Explosion in tail of V-2 |
44 | 18 November 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 145.3 | First Hermes B 'Organ' test of ramjet diffuser in place of payload section. Nominal performance. |
42 | 9 December 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 108.4 | Vane failure at 22s caused erratic flight |
1949 | |||||
H-II # 1 | 13 January 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 1st Hermes II test | |
45 | 28 January 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 59.9 | Defective performance |
48 | 17 February 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 100.6 | Nominal performance |
Bumper-5 | 24 February 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 129 | Successful flight. Separation of stages at 32.2 km |
41 | 21 March 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 133.5 | Blossom 3 - Parachute not ejected |
50 | 11 April 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 87.2 | Degraded performance from 43s |
Bumper-6 | 21 April 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 49.9 | Premature V-2 cut-off; WAC stage failed to fire |
46 | 5 May 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 8.85 | Second Hermes II 'Organ' test of ramjet diffuser in place of payload section |
47 | 14 June 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 133.5 | Blossom 4 - Nominal performance. |
32 | 16 September 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 4.2 | Blossom 5 - payload. Explosions led to early termination |
49 | 29 September 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 150.8 | Nominal performance. |
H-II # 2 | 6 October 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 2nd Hermes II test. | |
56 | 18 November 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 123.9 | Nominal performance. |
31 | 8 December 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 130.3 | Blossom 6 - Excellent performance |
1950 | |||||
53 | 17 February 1950 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 148.7 | Nominal performance. |
Bumper-8 | 24 July 1950 | Cape Canaveral | LC 3 | 16.1 | Low-angle atmospheric flight over 320 km range |
Bumper-7 | 29 July 1950 | Cape Canaveral | LC 3 | 16.1 | Low-angle atmospheric flight over 320 km range |
51 | 31 August 1950 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 136.4 | Blossom 7- Nominal performance. |
61 | 26 October 1950 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 8 | Explosion at 50s at Mach 3 terminated flight |
H-II # 3 | 11 November 1950 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 3rd and Final Hermes II test | |
1951 | |||||
54 | 18 January 1951 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 1.6 | Stalled on pad for 13s then rose slowly for 38s before exploding |
57 | 8 March 1951 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 3.1 | Blossom 8 - Three explosions at 15.5; 18.5 and 19.5s destroying til section |
55 | 14 June 1951 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 0 | Exploded on pad at start of main-stage thrust after rising 6-inches |
52 | 28 June 1951 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 5.8 | Blossom 9 - Tail explosion at 8s and then cut-off signal given at 22s. |
TF-1 | 22 August 1951 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 213.4 | Army training test (last 5 launches by "Broomstick Scientists") |
60 | 29 October 1951 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 140.9 | Army training test. Payload released but damaged on impact. |
1952 | |||||
59 | 20 May 1952 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 103.5 | Army training test. * Also designated TF-2 |
TF-3 | 22 August 1952 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 78 | Army training test. Thrust decreased after 53s. Tail separation at 217s. |
TF-5 | 19 September 1952 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 27 | Army training test. Tail explosion at 27s terminating thrust. |
Read more about this topic: List Of V-2 Test Launches
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The captured fume of space foams in our ears”
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—Westbrook Pegler (18941969)