Shavetail
{{Short description|American rocket}}
{{for|the rank "Shavetail" is used as slang for|Second Lieutenant}}
{{Infobox rocket
|image = Shavetail.jpg
|caption =
|function = Experimental rocket
|manufacturer =
|country-origin = United States
|height = {{convert|9|ft}}
|diameter = {{convert|6|in}}
|mass = {{convert|200|lb}}
|stages = One
|capacities =
|status = Retired
|sites = White Sands Missile Range
|launches = 11
|success =
|fail =
|first = August 1959
|last = October 1959
}}
Shavetail was an experimental American rocket developed during the 1950s. Used to evaluate the rapidly developing technology of rocketry, eleven Shavetail rockets were fired during 1959.
Design and development
Intended to assist in the development of rocket and missile technologies, Shavetail was a small, inexpensive, unguided solid-fueled rocket that was capable of being modified to be tested in various configurations.{{cite web |url=http://www.wsmr-history.org/Shavetail.htm |title=Shavetail |work=White Sands Missile Range Missile Park |publisher=White Sands Missile Range Museum |accessdate=2011-01-19}} Among the systems tested was one to ensure precise payload separation at motor burnout.Baker 1978, p.142.
Operational history
A series of eleven launches of the Shavetail rocket were conducted in late 1959, starting in August and ending in October.Parsch 2024 The maximum range of Shavetail was {{convert|6|mi}}.
References
=Notes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite book |last=Baker |first=David |title=The Rocket: The History and Development of Rocket & Missile Technology |publisher=Crown |year=1978 |isbn=978-0517534045 |location=New York |ol=OL4714156M}}
- {{Cite web |last=Parsch |first=Andreas |year=2024 |title=(Other): "Missile Scrapbook" |url=https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/other.html#shavetail |access-date=2011-01-19 |website=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles |publisher=designation-systems.net}}
{{refend}}
{{Rank rockets}}