Farside
Farside Rocket being loaded into the balloon
USAF Project Farside was an early attempt to reach very high altitudes (6437 km). Aeronutronic Systems built the vehicle.
The rocket was launched by a balloon at high altitude. The vehicle itself consisted of a cluster of 4 Recruit as stage one, one Recruit as stage 2, a cluster of 4 Arrow-2 as stage 3 and finally one Arrow-2 as stage 4. The balloon carried the Farside rocket in a suspended vertical aluminum structure below the balloon. At an altitude of 30 km, the rocket was fired straight through the balloon.
The launches carried instrumentation provided by the University of Maryland. Six launch attempts were made, but only the last two were successful. Earlier attempts failed as the cold at high altitude shattered the balloon in the first launch or several stages failed to ignite. During the two last flights, the payload malfunctioned.
| Version | Launch Assist | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farside | Balloon | 4 Recruit | Recruit | 4 Arrow-2 | Arrow-2 |
No: Serial: Type: Date: LS Payload
1 Farside 25.09.1957 F En * Farside 1 2 Farside 03.10.1957 F En * Farside 2 3 Farside 07.10.1957 F En * Farside 3 4 Farside 10.10.1957 F En * Farside 4 5 Farside 20.10.1957 En * Farside 5 6 Farside 21.10.1957 En * Farside 6 Launch sites: En = Eniwetok Atoll
References
- Frederick I. Ordway III, Ronald C. Wakeford: "International Missile and Spacecraft Guide", McGraw-Hill, 1960
