NASA Tech Reports/Designs

I've done a bit of searching around on the web, and tried various searches on NASA's Scientific and Technical Reports Server, but can't find what I'm looking for.

I was wondering if anyone had, or knew of where to find, some detailed design documents for really any sounding rocket (Black Brandt, Arcas, etc.). I don't really care what sounding rocket, just wanted to review their designs and documentation.

Thanks in advance!

These rockets are not designed by NASA. This is a good reference. https://fas.org/spp/guide/usa/launch/sr_handbook.pdf and there are at least 2 newer updates and several older versions.

Use google to find information as the government search functions are not very useful.

Arcas sounding rocket and Atlantic Research Arcas sounding rocket

black brant sounding rocket and Bristol Aerospace black brant sounding rocket

bobkrech said:

These rockets are not designed by NASA. This is a good reference. https://fas.org/spp/guide/usa/launch/sr_handbook.pdf and there are at least 2 newer updates and several older versions.

Use google to find information as the government search functions are not very useful.

Arcas sounding rocket and Atlantic Research Arcas sounding rocket

black brant sounding rocket and Bristol Aerospace black brant sounding rocket

Click to expand...

Prior to reading your reply, I did a google search for "sounding rocket designs" and found exactly the same source right at the very top. Sounds (no pun intended) like a good source you found. :wink:

Hah, wow, and I thought I was being smart doing a more specific search.

I know they're not designed by NASA, but I didn't know if they would publish a good bit of data on them since they've flown so many over the years. Thanks for the reference.

MIL_HDBK_762 is great, though not vehicle specific.

Super Loki Dart for extra credit

Thank you! The Super Loki document is exactly the type I was looking for.

This should help too.

I am having trouble finding a lot of these as available on the internet, so kinda stuck on any more.

Less specific

You will find that the most detailed reports are project reports prepared by the contractors who designed the rocket, not by the users of the rockets.

Most, but not all, of the sounding rockets are made from surplus military rocket parts. For example, any rocket with the work NIKE is using a NIKE Hercules booster. The Nike Hercules was made in massive quantities and after being decommissioned as a military rocket could not be used in the civilian work but was a virtually source of first stages for NASA and DoD sounding rockets.

One of the best starting places for the right search terms is https://www.astronautix.com/index.html which will deconstruct most rockets and includes a detailed history for them. Usually you can get enough information to find the original references.

Bob