Scout X-2 was an American
expendable launch system and
sounding rocket which was flown twice in 1962. It was a four-stage rocket, based on the earlier
Scout X-1
Scout X-1 was an American expendable launch system and sounding rocket which was flown seven times between August 1960 and October 1961. Four orbital and three suborbital launches were made, with four of the launches resulting in failures.
The ...
, uprated first and third stages. It was a member of the
Scout family of rockets.
The Scout X-2 used an
Algol 1D first stage, instead of the earlier
Algol 1B used on the Scout X-1. The third stage was the
Antares 2A
Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ ...
, a more powerful version of the
Antares 1A used on earlier variants of the Scout rocket. The second and fourth stages were the same as those used on the Scout X-1; a Castor 1A and an Altair 1A respectively.
The first Scout X-2 was launched on a suborbital flight at 07:27 GMT on 29 March 1962. It flew from
Launch Area 3 of the
Wallops Flight Facility. The flight carried
plasma and
aeronomy
Aeronomy is the scientific study of the upper atmosphere of the Earth and corresponding regions of the atmospheres of other planets. It is a branch of both atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics. Scientists specializing in aeronomy, known a ...
experiments to an
apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any ell ...
of , and was successful. The second flight, launched on 26 April, carried the
Solrad 4B satellite. It failed to reach orbit. Following this launch, the Scout X-2 was replaced by the upgraded
Scout X-2M.
References
*
*
*
*
1962 in spaceflight
X-2
{{rocket-stub