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Bumper (rocket)
Encyclopedia
After a July 1946 suggestion by Colonel Holger N. Toftoy to combine the V-2 rocket
and WAC Corporal
, the US Bumper missile program was inaugurated on June 20, 1947:
Over-all responsibility for the Bumper program was given to the General Electric
Company and were included in the Hermes project
, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
was assigned responsibility for the theoretical investigations required, the design of the second stage and basic design of the separation system. The Douglas Aircraft Company was assigned responsibility for fabrication of the second stage and detail design and fabrication of the special V-2 rocket parts required. The program was officially concluded in July 1950 after 8 launches.
Six Bumper launches, as well as other V-2 test launches, were from White Sands Proving Grounds. In 1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established at Cape Canaveral
on the east coast of Florida
. The July 24, 1950 Bumper 8 launch became the first of hundreds of launches from "the Cape."
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
and WAC Corporal
Wac Corporal
The WAC or WAC Corporal was the first sounding rocket developed in the United States. Begun as a spinoff of the Corporal program, the WAC was a "little sister" to the larger Corporal. It was designed and built jointly by the Douglas Aircraft Company and the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory.The...
, the US Bumper missile program was inaugurated on June 20, 1947:
- to investigate launching techniques for a two-stage missile and separation of the two stages at high velocity,
- to conduct limited investigation of high-speed high-altitude phenomena, and
- to attain velocities and altitudes higher than ever reached.
Over-all responsibility for the Bumper program was given to the General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Company and were included in the Hermes project
Hermes project
The Hermes project was an United States Army Ordnance Corps rocket program ....
, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
was assigned responsibility for the theoretical investigations required, the design of the second stage and basic design of the separation system. The Douglas Aircraft Company was assigned responsibility for fabrication of the second stage and detail design and fabrication of the special V-2 rocket parts required. The program was officially concluded in July 1950 after 8 launches.
Six Bumper launches, as well as other V-2 test launches, were from White Sands Proving Grounds. In 1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established at Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...
on the east coast of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The July 24, 1950 Bumper 8 launch became the first of hundreds of launches from "the Cape."
Bumper test launches
| Rocket number | Time | Launch site | Pad | Maximum altitude (kilometres) | Remarks |
| 1948 | |||||
| Bumper 1 | May 13, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 127.3 | Bumper 1 Premature cut-off of WAC 2nd stage |
| Bumper 2 | August 19, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 13.4 | Bumper 2 First stage failed due to propellant flow interruption |
| Bumper 3 | September 30, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 150.3 | Bumper 3 WAC stage failed |
| Bumper 4 | November 1, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 4.8 | Bumper 4 Explosion in tail of V-2 |
| 1949 | |||||
| Bumper 5 | February 24, 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 393 | Successful flight. Separation of stages at 32.2 km |
| Bumper 6 | April 21, 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 49.9 | Premature V-2 cut-off; WAC stage failed to fire |
| 1950 | |||||
| Bumper 8 | July 24, 1950 | Cape Canaveral | Pad 3 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 3 Launch Complex 3 is a deactivated US Air Force launch site southeast of SLC-36 on Cape Canaveral, Florida at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was constructed, with launch complexes 1, 2, and 4, in the early 1950s for the Snark missile program.... |
16.1 | Low-angle atmospheric flight over 320 km range. First rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. |
| Bumper 7 | July 29, 1950 | Cape Canaveral | 16.1 | Low-angle atmospheric flight over 320 km range | |