| NASA Center: |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
|---|
| Image # : |
BumperWAC |
|---|
| Date : |
02/24/1949
|
|---|
|
Title
Bumper WAC
Full Description
On February 24, 1949 a high altitude test vehicle called Bumper
WAC launched from White Sands Proving Ground. It reached a
record altitude of two hundred and fifty miles- the "first
recorded man-made object to reach extraterrestrial space." This
record held until 1957. Its first stage was a V-2 (German A-4)
rocket, the warhead replaced by a launching compartment. After
the V-2 shut down, there was a high altitude "bump," which
provided the name for the rocket. The photo shows the second
stage, a modified WAC Corporal sounding rocket, mounted in the
nose cone. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was responsible for
design study, development, and testing of the Bumper WAC in
cooperation with General Electric and Douglas Aircraft, for the
Army Ordnance Department. Bumper WAC was the world's first large
two-stage liquid propellant rocket.
Keywords
Jet Propulsion Laboratory White Sands Proving Ground Bumper WAC
Launch
Subject Category
Rocket Launches
Reference Numbers
- Center:
JPL
- Center Number:
BumperWAC
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2003-00062
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: NASA
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
JPEG |
23 |
38 |
3 |
Small |
JPEG |
181 |
302 |
35 |
Medium |
JPEG |
378 |
629 |
190 |
Large |
JPEG |
755 |
1257 |
1,139 |
Other relevant NASA Web sites:
• NASA Headquarters
• NASA History Office
• NASA Image eXchange (NIX)
• NASA Multimedia Gallery
• NASA Human Spaceflight
Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
• NASA's Privacy Statement
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