Hopi-Dart
{{Short description|American sounding rocket in service from 1963 to 1964}}
{{Infobox rocket
|image =
|caption =
|name = Hopi-Dart
|function = Sounding rocket
|manufacturer = Marshall Space Flight Center
|country-origin = United States
|height = {{convert|3.32|m|abbr=on}}
|diameter = {{convert|0.11|m|abbr=on}}
|mass = {{convert|38|kg|abbr=on}}
|stages = Two
{{Infobox rocket/payload
|location = {{convert|97|km|abbr=on}}
|kilos = {{convert|4.99|kg|abbr=on}}
}}
|status = Retired
|sites = Multiple
|launches = 22
|first = 28 February 1963
|last = 23 November 1964
|stagedata =
{{Infobox rocket/stage
|type = stage
|stageno = First
|name = Hopi III
|number = One
|diameter = {{convert|0.11|m|abbr=on}}
|engines =
|solid = yes
|thrust =
|burntime =
|fuel = solid
}}
{{Infobox rocket/stage
|type = stage
|stageno = Second
|name = Dart
|number = None
|diameter = {{convert|3.5|cm|abbr=on}}
}}
}}
Hopi-Dart was an American sounding rocket used by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for aeronomy studies in the early 1960s.
Design
Hopi-Dart was a two-stage vehicle, combining a solid-fuelled Hopi III first stage with an unpowered Dart second stage.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/h/hopidart.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227230203/http://astronautix.com/h/hopidart.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 27, 2016|title=Hopi Dart|last=Wade|first=Mark|website=Encyclopedia Astronautica|accessdate=2017-12-08}} It was originally capable of carrying a payload of {{convert|10|lb|disp=flip}} to an apogee of {{convert|40|mi|disp=flip}}; an upgrade, sometimes known as "Hopi Plus", increased the apogee to {{convert|60|mi|disp=flip|abbr=on}}.Jacobs and Whitney 1962, p. 80. 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.Morris and Pines 2000, p. 195.
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.Morris and Pines 2000, p. 197-199. Four of the test launches were failures. 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.Morris and Pines 2000, p. 199. Hopi III-Dart was replaced by the Super Loki-Dart of Space Data Corporation.Morris and Pines 2000, p. 200.
References
;Citations
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last=Jacobs|first=Horace|author2=Eunice Engelke Whitney|title=Missile and Space Projects Guide 1962 |origyear=1962|year=2013|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/XHETswEACAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjyzOKapPOMAxWMPkQIHSwqJF0Qre8FegQIBBAT |location=New York|ISBN=978-1-4899-6967-5 |access-date=April 25, 2025}}
- {{Cite book |last=Morrow |first=Richard B. |title=Small Sounding Rockets |last2=Pines |first2=Mitchell S. |publisher=Small Rocket Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-967-4106-0-6 |location=Searingtown, New York}}
{{refend}}