The Lockheed

Lockheed Corporation

The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...

 X-17 was a three stage solid-fuel research rocket to test the effects of high mach atmospheric reentry

Atmospheric reentry

Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...

. The first stage of the X-17 carried the rocket to a height of 17 miles (27.4 km) before burning out. The rocket would then coast on momentum to about 100 miles (160.9 km) before nosing down for reentry. The second stage engine would then fire before jettisoning and igniting the third and final stage. On April 24, 1957, an X-17 reached a speed of 9000 miles per hour (4,023.4 m/s) at Patrick AFB. Ultimately the X-17 would be travelling towards earth at up to Mach 14.5.

The X-17 was also used as the booster for the Operation Argus

Operation Argus

Operation Argus was a series of nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted during August and September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean by the United States's Defense Nuclear Agency, in conjunction with the Explorer 4 space mission. Operation Argus was conducted between the...

 series of three high-altitude nuclear tests conducted in the South Atlantic in 1958.