Loki-Dart

Loki-Dart was a very popular low-cost meteorological sounding rocket from the 1950s to the 1980s and became the workhorse sounding rocket of White Sands. It combined a Loki on the bottom with a Dart mounted on its nose, and for many years it was fired twice a day carrying weather instruments to measure atmospheric conditions over the missile range. The Loki solid-propellant missile was developed from the Army's abandoned Loki anti-aircraft rocket and used a single rocket booster to propel it to high speed of 3900 mph. After rocket burnout at about 2,500 feet, the Loki booster separated from the Dart because of aerodynamic drag difference, while the Dart continued its upward climb. The Dart, a Navy research missile used for gathering weather information, contained a balloon, electronic instruments, battery, tracking radar, and antenna. Reaching its peak at 20 miles above sea level, the Dart split open and the balloon was inflated, allowing the instruments case to float downward gently. Continuous telemetering during the downward trip permitted compilation of upper atmospheric conditions. With modifications and improvements, Loki-Dart continued in support of scientific and military weather monitoring programs to the end of the 1980s. Its length including booster was 103 inches, its diameter was 3 inches or 7.62 cm, its weight including booster was 29 pounds or 13 kg, its altitude was 53 miles, its propellant was solid, and its first firing was in 1951.

White Sands, New Mexico · United States