Rocket sled
Encyclopedia
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s.
As its name implies, a rocket sled does not use wheels. Instead, it has sliding pads, called "slippers", which are curved around the head of the rails to prevent the sled from flying off the track. The rail cross-section profile is that of a Vignoles rail, commonly used for railroads.
A rocket sled holds the land-based speed record for a vehicle, at Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
8.5.
Usage
Rocket sleds were used extensively by the United States early in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
to accelerate equipment considered too experimental (hazardous) for testing directly in piloted aircraft. The equipment to be tested under high acceleration or high airspeed conditions was installed along with appropriate instrumentation
Instrumentation
Instrumentation is defined as the art and science of measurement and control of process variables within a production, or manufacturing area....
, data recording and telemetry
Telemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
equipment on the sled. The sled was then accelerated according to the experiment's design requirements for data collection along a length of isolated, precisely level and straight test track.
Testing ejection seat systems and technology prior to their use in experimental or operational aircraft was a common application of the rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base
Holloman Air Force Base
Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located six miles southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, a city in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The base was named in honor of Col. George V. Holloman, a pioneer in guided missile research...
. Perhaps the most famous, the tracks at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
were used to test missiles, supersonic ejection seats, aircraft shapes and the effects of acceleration and deceleration on humans. The rocket sled track at Edwards Air Force Base was dismantled and used to extend the track at Holloman Air Force Base, taking it to almost 10 miles in length.
Unmanned rocket sleds continue to be used to test missile components without requiring costly live missile launches. A world speed record
Land speed record for railed vehicles
Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
of Mach 8.5 (6,416 mph / 10,325 km/h) was achieved by a four-stage rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base
Holloman Air Force Base
Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located six miles southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, a city in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The base was named in honor of Col. George V. Holloman, a pioneer in guided missile research...
on , 2003.
Murphy's law
Murphy's law
Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". - History :The perceived perversity of the universe has long been a subject of comment, and precursors to the modern version of Murphy's law are not hard to find. Recent significant...
first received public attention during a press conference about rocket sled testing.
Examples
| Name | Location | Country | Length (ft) | Gauge (in) | Rail Type | Welded/Segmented | Opened | Renovated | Closed | Geography | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) Rails 1&2 | Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM | USA | 50,788 | 84 | 171 | Welded | 1954 | Runs North-South, 32.8881°N 106.1502°W | |||
| Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT) | NAWC-WD, China Lake, CA | USA | 21,550 | 56.5 | 171 | Welded | 1953 | 2006 | North-South | ||
| Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) Rail 3 | Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM | USA | 20,200 | 26 | 171 | Welded | North-South | ||||
| Extended High-Speed Rocket Sled Track | Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA | USA | 20,000 | 171 | Welded | 1949 | 1959 | 1963 | Rails used to lengthen HHSTT | ||
| Supersonic Military Air Research Track (SMART) | Aircraft Interior Products Propulsion Systems, Hurricane Mesa, UT | USA | 12,000 | 56.5 | 105 | Welded | 1955 | 1961* | *Now Privately Owned & Operational | ||
| Sandia 2 | Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM | USA | 10,000 | 1966 | 1985 | North-South | |||||
| Russia | 50 km from Zvezda | Russia | 8,202 | Segmented | |||||||
| B-4 | NAWC-WD, China Lake, CA | USA | 6,800 | 56.5 | 75 | Welded | 1940 | ||||
| Martin-Baker Langford Lodge | Langford Lodge, Northern Ireland | UK | 6,200 | 30 | 80 | 1971 | Privately Owned & Operated by Martin-Baker | ||||
| Pendine Long Test Track (LTT) | Qinetiq, Pendine, Wales | UK | 4,921 | 12 | 103 | ||||||
| Centre D'essais Des Landes Single Rail R1 | Biscarrosse, France | France | 3,937 | Monorail | Square Beam | Segmented | (Foundation for 2nd rail in place) | ||||
| G4 | NAWC-WD, China Lake, CA | USA | 3,000 | 33.875 | 171 | Welded | |||||
| Eglin Track | Eglin AFB, Ft. Walton Beach, FL | USA | 2,000 | 56.5 | 171 | Welded | |||||
| Sandia 1 | Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM | USA | 2,000 | 1951 | |||||||
| Edwards North Base Track "G-Whiz" | Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA | USA | 2,000 | Welded | 1944 | 1953 | |||||
| Redstone Technical Test Center Sled Track 1 | Redstone Arsenal, AL | USA | 1,900 | ||||||||
| Pendine Impact Test Track | Qinetiq, Pendine, Wales | UK | 1,476 | ||||||||
| Centre D'essais Des Landes Single Rail R2 | Biscarrosse, France | France | 1,312 | Square Beam | |||||||
| Redstone Technical Test Center Sled Track 2 | Redstone Arsenal, AL | USA | 1,200 | ||||||||
| New Mexico Tech/EMRTC Sled Track | Socorro, NM | USA | 1,000 | Monorail | 171 | Privately Owned & Operated | |||||
| Pendine Short Test Track (STT) | Qinetiq, Pendine, Wales | UK | 656 | ||||||||
| General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems | Rock Hill, FL | USA | 656 | I-Beam | Privately Owned & Operated | ||||||
| Holloman Maglev Track | Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM | USA | |||||||||
| Germany | Germany | I-Beam |
See also
- Land speed record for railed vehiclesLand speed record for railed vehiclesDetermination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
- Land speed recordLand speed recordThe land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
- List of vehicle speed records
- Rocket sled launchRocket sled launchA rocket sled launch is a method of launching space vehicles. A rail or maglev track and a rocket or jet booster is used to accelerate a sled holding a vehicle up an eastward facing mountain slope...