Programs

Navaho

The Navaho Program was awarded to NAA by the USAF in 1946 to study supersonic missiles. The Navaho was a surface-to-surface missile manufactured by NAA. Even though it never reached operational status before cancellation in 1957, Navaho research development contributed to the aeronautical research program. The heavy Navaho vehicle weighed 136,000 kilograms, capable of Mach-3 speeds, and used an improved V-2 engine, was boosted into the air by three liquid-propellant rocket engines of 135,000 pounds of thrust each. Variants of these engines were developed for Army's Redstone, Jupiter. Thor, and Atlas engines. A mixture of LOX and jet propulsion (JP) fuel, fed the Navaho G-38 engines. Navaho engines were tested only in Area II between 1956 and 1957 at the Alfa and Coca areas. Approximately 472 tests were performed for the Navaho G-38 engine.

Atlas

Although the Army had shown great initiative in ballistic missile development, the Air Force became the dominant military service in long-range, ballistic missiles. The Air Force had the responsibility for developing the Atlas and Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the Thor intermediate range missile, and later, the Minuteman, an all-solid-propellant missile.

The Atlas had a range of about 10 000 kilometers and a payload capability of 700 kilograms. The Atlas was powered by two 667-kilonewton (150 000 lb thrust) first-stage engines plus a 267-kilonewton (60 000 lb) sustainer engine. At launch, all three engines operated and at the end of first-stage operation, the two large engines were jettisoned leaving the sustainer engine to continue to operate during the second phase. Propellants for all three engines came from common tanks which constituted the bulk of the structure. Since Atlas jettisoned only its first-stage engines, it was called a 1 1/2 stage vehicle.

NAA developed the Atlas propulsion system for use in the USAF’s Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program. General Dynamics/Convair was the lead contractor in the Atlas program with responsibilities for airframe design, assembly, and testing of the missile system. Atlas engines used Rocket Propellant (RP)-1 for the fuel and LOX for the oxidizer as the propellant combination. Atlas engines and thrust chambers were tested at all four Area II test stand areas between 1955 and 1957, during the time NAA owned the property. Approximately 1,511 tests were performed for Atlas engines and thrust chambers.

NASA joined the USAF as a sponsor of the Atlas program in 1958. Both the USAF and NASA had SSFL facilities contracts and Atlas development production contracts with Rockwell from the 1960s through the 1980s. Test firings also were performed under both agencies during this time. More than 75 percent of the Atlas flights were performed for the USAF. More than 7,000 tests were performed for Atlas engines and thrust chambers between 1958 and 1983 at the Area II test stands. Testing of Atlas engines and thrust chambers continued at Alfa through 2000 and at Bravo until its closure in 2005.

Jupiter

The Jupiter rocket was designed and developed by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA). ABMA launched the Jupiter-A at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 1, 1957. The Jupiter vehicle was a direct derivative of the Redstone. The ABMA continued Jupiter development into a successful intermediate ballistic missile, even though the Department of Defense directed its operational development to the Air Force. ABMA maintained a role in Jupiter RD, including high-altitude launches that added to ABMA's understanding of rocket vehicle operations in the near-Earth space environment. It was knowledge that paid handsome dividends later.

The Jupiter Program was established by the Department of the Army in 1956 as an outgrowth of the Department of Defense’s Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Program. The propellant combination for the Jupiter engines used LOX as the oxidizer and kerosene as the fuel. Testing and production of the Jupiter engines occurred both at SSFL and at Rocketdyne’s Neosho, Missouri plant. Approximately 118 tests were performed for Jupiter engines at the Alfa and Delta test areas from 1957 through 1963.

Thor and RS-27

During this program time, the Army continued testing its Redstones and Jupiters and a new short-range field missile called the Pershing. The Navy was busy developing its submarine-launched Polaris missile system. The Air Force pushed ahead with its Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) and its Atlas, Titan and Minuteman ICBM programs. The Thor later became the booster stage for NASA's dependable Delta launch vehicle, which has placed more satellites into orbit than any other rocket in the nation's fold.

The Delta family of rockets have been built and launched since 1960. Its roots go back to the days immediately following the launch of Sputnik in 1957, when the Thor was modified into a booster for Earth-orbiting satellites.

NASA's first satellite launch attempt on board Delta was Echo I in May 1960. Although it was not successful, the launch of NASA's Echo IA satellite August 12, 1960, started Delta on its way to becoming "NASA's workhorse." Until the early 1980s the Delta increased in size and capability, serving as NASA's primary launch vehicle for boosting communications, weather, scientific and planetary exploration satellites into orbit.

The Thor Program was initiated in 1955 by the USAF as part of its Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Program. Development of the RS 27 engine began in 1971 for the Delta Program. The RS-27 engine was a hybrid of the H-1 (not tested in Area II) rocket engine and the Thor MB-3 engine. The engines were fueled by LOX and kerosene. At least 2,262 tests were performed for the Thor and RS-27 Delta engines at the Alfa, Bravo, and Delta test stands between 1955 and 1991. Testing for RS-27 engines continued into 2006 at the Alfa test stands.

E-1, Pre-F-1

The E-1 engine was planned for use on launch vehicles, such as Saturn rockets. The E-1 Program was initiated in 1956 by Rocketdyne as part of the USAF’s Rocket Engine Advancement Program. The experimental engine was a precursor to the F-1 engine. The E-1 was the result of an effort to produce a single thrust-chamber rocket engine capable of 300,000 pounds of thrust. Previously, this level of thrust was possible only with clusters of smaller engines. The engine was propelled by a mixture of LOX and RP fuel. NASA sponsored approximately 24 tests performed for the E-1 thrust chamber and mainstage in 1959. Approximately 146 tests sponsored by USAF were performed for the E-1 engines and thrust chambers between 1956 and 1960. These tests were conducted in the Bravo and Delta test areas.

X-1, X-4

F-1 Saturn V

The origins of the Saturn launch vehicle concept are rooted in the research conducted within the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in the late 1950's. A rocket engine of tremendous capabilities would be needed if man ever embarked on lunar journeys or sent probes into deep space. As a result, development started in the 1950's on the 1.5-million-pound-thrust F-1 engine even before a vehicle was designed for it. The F-1 would burn the familiar liquid oxygen and RP-1, and was based on an initial concept for a 360,000-pound-thrust E-1 engine that would burn liquid oxygen and RP-1.

For a brief while, NASA considered using the F-1 on a vehicle of tremendous size, the Nova, which would be capable of direct flights to the Moon. The Nova never materialized, but the F- 1 did and would eventually be used in the first stage of the vehicle that would launch men on their way to the Moon. Five F-1 engines would provide a total thrust of 7.5 million pounds in the Saturn V S-IC stage.

The F-1 Program was established in earnest at SSFL in 1959. The F-1 engines, the largest and most powerful produced in the United States, were placed as a cluster of five at the base of a Saturn V launch vehicle. The F-1 was a liquid propelled engine that used LOX and RP-1. The engine was too large to test at SSFL. Testing of F-1 components was performed at the Bravo test area between 1960 and 1970.

J-2 Saturn V

Lance

Lunar Ascent Descent Engine

Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)

RS-27 Delta

USAF Lasers

MX-Peacekeeper