Mohr Rocket
Encyclopedia
The Mohr Rocket was a sounding rocket
developed by Ernst Mohr
in Wuppertal
, Germany
.
It was a single stage solid fuel rocket with:
The burn time of the engine was 2 seconds. After the burnout of the engine the dart was separated from the rocket. Dart and rocket had a height of 1200 m and a speed of 1200 m/s when separated after burnout. The dart flew without further propulsion up to a height of 50 kilometres, because of its good aerodynamic design, while the rocket, which was not so well designed aerodynamically, reached a lesser height and fell to the ground near the launchpad.
The first launch attempt was planned on August 24, 1957 near Cuxhaven, but cancelled because of bad weather. On June 8, 1958 the first launch attempts were made, but failed, because two rockets hung on the launcher and the third was unstable in flight.
The next launch attempt of three further rockets on September 14, 1958 was successful. The rockets reached the desired height of 50 km.
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
developed by Ernst Mohr
Ernst Mohr
Ernst Mohr was a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Wuppertal. He developed the meteorological Mohr Rocket, on behalf of the German Rocket Society...
in Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
It was a single stage solid fuel rocket with:
- a length of 1.7 metres,
- a total mass of 150 kg (75 kg propellant),
- a lift-off thrust of 76.5 kN and a diameter of 0.3 m.
- a payload, which could weigh up to 5 kg (this was stored in a dartDart (rocket)A dart is a free flying top of a sounding rocket, and contains the payload. Its form is very aerodynamically designed. After the launch stage burned out the dart is detached and continues to rise only with its own inertia....
with a mass of 15 kg, a maximum diameter of 0.056 metre and a length of 1.25 metres.)
The burn time of the engine was 2 seconds. After the burnout of the engine the dart was separated from the rocket. Dart and rocket had a height of 1200 m and a speed of 1200 m/s when separated after burnout. The dart flew without further propulsion up to a height of 50 kilometres, because of its good aerodynamic design, while the rocket, which was not so well designed aerodynamically, reached a lesser height and fell to the ground near the launchpad.
The first launch attempt was planned on August 24, 1957 near Cuxhaven, but cancelled because of bad weather. On June 8, 1958 the first launch attempts were made, but failed, because two rockets hung on the launcher and the third was unstable in flight.
The next launch attempt of three further rockets on September 14, 1958 was successful. The rockets reached the desired height of 50 km.