During the mid-1950s, the Air Force sponsored work on the feasibility of building large, single-chamber engines, presumably for boost-glide aircraft or spacecraft. In 1956, the Army missile development group began studies of large launch vehicles. The possibilities opened up by Sputnik accelerated this work and gave the Army an opportunity to bid for the leading role in launch vehicles. The Air Force had the responsibility for the largest ballistic missiles and hence a ready-made base for extending their capability for spaceflight. During 1958, actions taken to establish a civilian space agency, and the launch vehicle needs seen by its planners, added a third contender to the space vehicle competition. These activities during 1958 are examined as to how they resulted in the initiation of a large rocket engine and the first large launch vehicle.
Large engines and vehicles, 1958
1978-01-01
Buch
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Table of Space Vehicles, 1958-1980
NTIS | 1981
|Large rocket engines for space vehicles and missiles
Engineering Index Backfile | 1961
|New combustion chamber designs in 1958 passenger car engines
Engineering Index Backfile | 1957
|Table of Space Vehicles Launched in 1958-65
NTIS | 1966
|Table of Space Vehicles Launched in 1958-66
NTIS | 1967
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