Hopi-Dart

Hopi-Dart was an American sounding rocket used by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for aeronomy studies in the early 1960s.

Hopi-Dart

Function	Sounding rocket
Manufacturer	Marshall Space Flight Center
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	3.32 m (10.9 ft)
Diameter	0.11 m (4.3 in)
Mass	38 kg (84 lb)
Stages	Two
Payload to 97 km (60 mi)
Mass	4.99 kg (11.0 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Multiple
Total launches	22
First flight	28 February 1963
Last flight	23 November 1964
First stage – Hopi III
Diameter	0.11 m (4.3 in)
Propellant	solid
Second stage – Dart
Diameter	3.5 cm (1.4 in)

Design

Hopi-Dart was a two-stage vehicle, combining a solid-fuelled Hopi III first stage with an unpowered Dart second stage.^[1] It was originally capable of carrying a payload of 4.5 kilograms (10 lb) to an apogee of 64 kilometres (40 mi); an upgrade, sometimes known as "Hopi Plus", increased the apogee to 97 km (60 mi).^[2] The Hopi-Dart was developed for NASA Marshall Space Fight Center to obtain wind speeds at altitudes from 70 to 90 kilometers in support of Saturn launches. Design was headed by Charles W. Watson.^[3]

Operational history

Eleven test and eleven operational aeronomy missions were flown, with Wallops Island, the Tonopah Test Range, and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 43 being used as launch sites.^[4] Four of the test launches were failures.^[1] After flight 18 significant modifications were made. The modifications were to the interstage, propellant formulation, and the rocket nozzle. The redesigned first stage was renamed the Hopi III.^[5] Hopi III-Dart was replaced by the Super Loki-Dart of Space Data Corporation.^[6]