Mesquito Rocket Launch at NASA's Wallops Island

This is a design concept named Mesquito (purposely spelled wrong). This is a single stage sounding rocket and will launch at 120G acceleration. The motor will burns for two seconds then separates from the payload, called the dart (only 4" diameter, very small). The dart will reach a maximum altitude of 80-100Km, roughly 50-62 miles in the air.

This particular launch was a test rocket launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. It has no TM and is tracked by both WFF's tracking radars and the Navy's AEGIS Ballistics Missile Defense System due to the extreme speed and acceleration of this rocket. Note that the rocket breaks the sound barrier only a few feet from leaving the rail.

Hope you enjoy!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• sounding
• rocket
• missle
• space
• aviation
• launch
• takeoff
• mesquito
• rail
• payload
• nasa
• wallops
• flight

[joetama]

Good lord that thing looks fast.

[gir1337]

I believe it's the fastest sounding rocket we've ever launched at WFF. We've had to redesign all our boards from using mechanical relays to solid state due to the extreme acceleration, which causes "chattering" on mechanical relays. To put this into perspective of how fast it accelerates, 1 pound will become 120 pounds when it launches.

[rpcelectronics]

I am in the control center on launch day, so I have to watch the launch on a monitor. I remember this one because once it left the rail, it was gone in a blink of the eye. Some others take a second longer and you can actually watch it a little better as it leaves the rail.

[r0ck3tsm0k3]

Looks like an R motor or so.

[Haker101]

would you happen to know how much it weigh's before launch?

[davetherocketguy]

So, how many newtons of thrust did that bad-boy have? 290k altitude is really impressive with a 2 second burn.

[EmeraldElement]

Nice, speed + explosives, a great combination.