Nike Hydac is the designation of an American

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...

with two stages, based upon the

Nike Ajax The United States Army's Nike Ajax was the world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile (SAM), entering service in 1954. Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes above ...

booster. The Nike Hydac was launched 87 times from many missile sites. Such sites were

White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...

Poker Flat Research Range The Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is a launch facility and rocket range for sounding rockets in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on a site at Chatanika, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Fairbanks and 1.5 degrees south of the Arcti ...

("Poker Flats"), Kwajalein Missile Range, Cassino Site -

Rio Grande Airport Rio Grande Regional Airport , also known as Gustavo Cramer Airport is the airport serving Rio Grande, Brazil. It is operated by DAP. Airlines and destinations No scheduled flights operate at this airport. Access The airport is located from d ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and from

North Truro Air Force Station North Truro Air Force Station (AFS) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east of North Truro, Massachusetts. Most of the site was inactivated by 1994 and turned over to the National Park Servic ...

in Massachusetts during

Operation Have Horn Operation Have Horn was a project in 1969 by the United States Air Force that involved the launching of Nike Hydac sounding rockets. It occurred at North Truro Air Force Station, located in North Truro, Massachusetts. Upon completion of the operat ...

in 1969.astronautix.com: ''Nike Hydac''
The directing agency for Nike Hydac was the

Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, (AFCRL)

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. The AFCRL began its origins to the Cambridge Field Station in 1945 to analyze and study

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) wartime efforts on electronic countermeasures and atmospheric research.astronautix.com: ''Air Force Cambridge Research Lab''

Nike platform

:''Section source: Astronautix'' *Type: two stage **Stage 1: Nike - solid propellant rocket stage, loaded/empty mass 599/256 kg **Stage 2: Hydac - solid propellant rocket stage, loaded mass 300 kg *Gross mass: 900 kg (1,980 lb) *Height: 9.10 m (29.80 ft) *Diameter: 0.42 m (1.37 ft) *Thrust: 217.00 kN (48,783 lbf) *Apogee: 150 km (90 mi) *First date: 1966-11-05 *Last date: 1983-06-16 *Number: 87 launches

Other Nike sounding rockets

Nike-Apache The Nike Apache, also known as Argo B-13, was a two-stage sounding rocket developed by Aerolab, later Atlantic Research, for use by the United States Air Force and NASA. It became the standard NASA sounding rocket and was launched over 600 times ...

Nike-Asp Nike Asp was an American sounding rocket. The Nike Asp has a ceiling of 220 km, a takeoff thrust of 217 kN, a takeoff weight of 700 kg, a diameter of 0.42 m and a length of 7.90 m. The Nike-Asp is an Asp rocket with a Nike booster s ...

Nike-Cajun The Nike-Cajun was a two-stage sounding rocket built by combining a Nike base stage with a Cajun upper stage. The Nike-Cajun was known as a CAN for Cajun And Nike. The Cajun was developed from the Deacon rocket. It retained the external size, shap ...

Nike-Deacon The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike He ...

Nike-Iroquois Nike Iroquois is the designation of a two-stage American sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform sci ...

Nike Javelin The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike He ...

Nike Malemute The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike Her ...

Nike-Nike Nike Nike is the designation of a United States sounding rocket. The Nike Nike consists of two Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, appar ...

Nike Orion The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike Her ...

Nike Recruit The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike Her ...

Nike T40 T55 The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike Her ...

Nike Tomahawk The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike He ...

Nike Viper The Nike stage or Nike booster, a solid fuel rocket motor, was created by Hercules Aerospace for the Nike Ajax (M5) Nike Hercules (M5E1) (and M88 late in Hercules career). It was developed for use as the first stage of the Nike Ajax and Nike Her ...

References

Nike (rocket family) {{rocket-stub