Highwater
Two suborbital tests of the Saturn
I launch vehicle that resulted in the creation of massive ice clouds in
the ionosphere. The second and third stages of the Saturn contained 87,000
liters of water to simulate the mass of fully-fuelled stages. Following
the successful launch of the first stage, the rocket was detonated by explosives
with a signal from the ground. The released water formed a massive cloud
of ice particles several km in diameter. By this experiment, scientists
had hoped to obtain data on atmospheric physics, but poor telemetry made
the results questionable. Highwater 2 marked the third straight launch success
for the Saturn I and the first with maximum mass on board.
| spacecraft |
launch
vehicle |
launch date |
launch site |
altitude/time of detonation |
length of
experiment |
| Highwater 1 |
Saturn I |
Apr. 25, 1962 |
Cape Canaveral
|
105 km / 2.5 min. |
1.62 days |
| Highwater 2 |
Saturn I |
Nov. 16, 1962 |
Cape Canaveral |
167 km / 4 min. 53 s |
1.46 days |
Related category
SATELLITES
AND SPACE PROBES
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