old white sands document

I've been slowly liquidating my vintage computer collection over the last few years (You can see some of my current auctions here), and every once in a while my hobbies overlap.

I found an old univac promotional piece about how the White Sands Missile range used it's mainframes. I've uploaded a few photo's of the piece for historical purposes.

That's a Nike Ajax in pic#2, but 3,4 and 5? I can't identify that missile.I like the fins!
Very un military looking.

Almost sure that's a WAC Corporal...

Reading about their history right now in "Exploring Space: Voyages in the Solar System and Beyond" by William E. Burrows... It's basically a history of the unmanned space exploration program, but the early chapters go back to the very dawn of the space age, including the WAC Corporal's development for the Army in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory... they were working for the ARMY before NASA came along, developing early missiles, engines, and electronics (guidance), and working with them on sounding rocket programs developing payloads and such along with other universities and researchers.

JPL actually had a pretty hard time adapting to how NASA ran the show after its creation and absorption of JPL, since they were accustomed to having much more free reign under the Army, if you can believe that...

Later! OL JR

The rocket in picture #3 is a Corporal which isn't the same as a WAC Corporal. I'm not sure about 4 and 5.

billspad said:

The rocket in picture #3 is a Corporal which isn't the same as a WAC Corporal. I'm not sure about 4 and 5.

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Ok my bad... LOL What I get for reading books with no pics...

At least I knew it was a Corporal... LOL Later! OL JR

luke strawwalker said:

Ok my bad... LOL What I get for reading books with no pics...

At least I knew it was a Corporal... LOL Later! OL JR

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Don't feel bad. I was taking the our of the old part of the Kennedy Space Center a couple of years ago and the bus driver identified a Corporal as a WAC Corporal. At the beginning of the tour he pointed to a Redstone and referred to it as a German rocket. I told him it was designed by Germans but built by Chrysler which at the time was an American company. I would have corrected him on the Corporal but I'm sure I was the only one on the bus who knew or cared.