The NOTS-EV-1 Pilot, better known as NOTSNIK (pronounced nots''nik'' a play on "sputnik") was an

expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket sta ...

and anti-satellite weapon developed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's United States Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS). NOTSNIK began as an in-house project using available NOTS funds. The Advanced Research Projects Agency later supplied some funds for the program. The program involved creating transistorized sensors to detect nuclear explosions from the

Operation Argus Operation Argus was a series of United States low-yield, high-altitude nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted from 27 August to 9 September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean. The tests were performed by the Defense Nucle ...

tests. Ten were launched during July and August 1958, all of which failed. It was the first air-launched rocket to be used for an

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

al launch attempt; however, none was recorded as having reached orbit. Following the third orbital launch attempt a NOTS engineer at the tracking station in Christchurch, New Zealand reported receiving a weak signal from the spacecraft; This was never confirmed, and the launches were not catalogued as having reached orbit. The Pilot rocket was part of

Project Pilot A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

Overview

Two variants of the Pilot rocket were built; the Pilot-1, with

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

second to fifth stages, was used for ground-launched atmospheric tests from

China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is a United States military facility in California. China Lake may also refer to: Places in the United States *China Lake, Kern County, California, an unincorporated community named for a nearby dry lake *Chi ...

, and the Pilot-2, an air-launched version, was used for orbital launch attempts. Orbital launches were conducted from a stripped–down jet carrier aircraft, an F4D–1 Skyray, flying from

Point Mugu Naval Air Station Naval Air Station Point Mugu was a United States naval air station near Oxnard, California, which operated as an independent base from 1941 to 2000, when it merged with nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme to form Naval Base V ...

, and releasing the rocket over the

Santa Barbara Channel Drop Zone Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

. Of the ten launches, four were of Pilot-1s, and the rest Pilot-2s. The first air–launch was performed on 25 July 1958 by NOTS research pilot William West, a career US Navy officer. The flight originated from China Lake's airstrip at Inyokern. The jet fighter was placed into a steep climb. The rocket released automatically at , and three seconds later the first two HOTROCs ignited. The first flight was a failure. The second air–launch, in August, ended in a HOTROC explosion. On the third attempt the F4D pilot reported that the missile exploded, just like the first two had. Radio contact with the ground was lost during the second–stage burn, but the rocket appeared on film, departing over the horizon. Though objects believed to be the nozzle seal, and perhaps missile or fin skin were seen departing the disappearing missile. A NOTS engineer, Frank St. George at the tracking station at Christchurch New Zealand alone of the four stations which remained listening reported a faint single beep at the predicted time during the first orbital windows.Babcock 2008, p. 441. No further signal was received, so the mission was also declared a failure. Project Pilot was cancelled in August 1958, and replaced by the

NOTS-EV-2 Caleb The NOTS-EV-2 Caleb, also known as NOTS-500, Hi-Hoe and SIP was an expendable launch system, which was later used as a sounding rocket and prototype anti-satellite weapon. It was developed by the United States Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station ( ...

; The project remained classified until 1994. Following this series of tests, and the follow-on Caleb program being riddled with multiple failures, US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara decided to terminate the Navy's space program and assign all responsibility to the US Air Force.

Launch history

References

External links

{{US launch systems Air launch to orbit Equipment of the United States Navy Anti-satellite missiles Space launch vehicles of the United States

Overview

Launch history

See also

References

Further reading

External links