Black Brant (rocket)

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File:Black Brant sounding rockets shapes-01.jpg
Black Brant sounding rockets

The Black Brant is a family of Canadian-designed sounding rockets originally built by Bristol Aerospace, since absorbed by Magellan Aerospace in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Over 800 Black Brants of various versions have been launched since they were first produced in 1961, and the type remains one of the most popular sounding rockets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They have been repeatedly used by the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.

History

Black Brant was the result of research at Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment (CARDE) during the 1950s into the nature of the upper part of the atmosphere as part of ongoing research into anti-ballistic missile systems and very-long-range communication. In 1957, CARDE contracted Bristol to produce a simple rocket fuselage, called the Propulsion Test Vehicle, for studies into high-power solid fuels. The resulting design, by Albert Fia, was quite heavy, as it was designed to be able to accommodate a wide variety of engine burning times, propellant loadings and launch angles in keeping with its role as a test vehicle for ABM systems development. The first test flight took place only two years later from the Churchill Rocket Research Range in September 1959.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

CARDE's attention later turned to long-distance communications and they found the Propulsion Test Vehicle system useful as a sounding rocket. To better suit this role, Bristol modified the design to be lighter and more tailored to the sounding rocket role. This became the Black Brant. CARDE launched a number of Black Brant rockets over the next few years, both the original Black Brant I design which could place a Template:Convert payload to Template:Convert altitude, as well as the larger Template:Nowrap which first flew in October 1960, and the smaller but higher-altitude Template:Nowrap.

The rocket's design emphasized reliability over payload and range.<ref name="ley196406">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In July 1963 the much larger Template:Nowrap first flew, which was also used as a booster stage for the Template:Nowrap to make the Template:Nowrap. The IV first flew in 1964, but failed, as did the next test launch. Aside from these two launches, which were corrected for, the Template:Nowrap has never had another failure, making it one of the most reliable rockets in history. Since then it has undergone continual evolution, and the current versions are the XI and XII, consisting of Template:Nowrap used as an upper stage, with Talos and Terrier boosters as lower stages. They have reached altitudes of more than Template:Convert, which is above the ionosphere and well above the orbits of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.

The propellant designs developed by CARDE in the Template:Nowrap program were the highest performing solid fuels of their day. Bristol then placed this propellant in a new Template:Convert rocket to form the CRV7, the first rocket capable of penetrating standard Warsaw Pact aircraft hangars. The CRV7 has since gone on to become the de facto standard rocket for most Western-aligned militaries.

In 1976, Australia and Canada through the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) agreed<ref>"Exchange of Notes constituting an Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of Canada relating to the Launching of a Canadian Scientific Rocket from Woomera ATS 22 of 1976 " Template:Webarchive. Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017.</ref> to launch a rocket from Woomera Test Range. The Template:Nowrap rocket was launched there on 9 November for experiments in the ionosphere.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later, NASA would launch a number of Template:Nowrap.

At present, due to its 98% success rate, it remains one of the most popular sounding rockets ever built. The rockets have been used repeatedly by the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. There is a 1:1 scale model of the Template:Nowrap rocket in front of the head office of the Canadian Space Agency in Saint-Hubert, east of Montréal. A full-scale Template:Nowrap is on display in the Science Gallery of The Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

In 1995, a Black Brant XII four-stage sounding rocket from the Andøya Rocket Range off the northwestern coast of Norway caused the Norwegian rocket incident, also known as the Black Brant scare. The trajectory resembled that of a U.S. Navy submarine-launched Trident missile. Russian nuclear forces were put on high alert as a result, fearing a high-altitude nuclear attack that could blind Russian radar, and Russia's "nuclear briefcase", the Cheget, was brought to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who then had to decide whether to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States. It is the first and thus far only known incident where any nuclear-weapons state had its nuclear briefcase activated and prepared for launching an attack.

On September 19, 2009, a Black Brant XII that was launched to study clouds caused numerous calls from the northeastern U.S. reporting "strange lights in the sky". NASA reported that the light came from an artificial noctilucent cloud formed by the exhaust particles of the rocket's fourth stage at an altitude of about Template:Convert.

Versions

File:Black Brant-I rocket-01.jpg
Black Brant I

Black Brant I

File:Black Brant-II rocket-02.jpg
Black Brant II

Black Brant II

The II was the first rocket for scientific use and was ready in 1960.<ref name="sr1965">Template:Cite journal</ref>

File:Black-Brant-3.jpg
Black Brant III

Black Brant III

File:Black-Brant-4.jpg
Black Brant IV

Black Brant IV

File:Black-Brant-5C.jpg
Black Brant VC

Black Brant V

Black Brant VI

File:Black Brant-VII rocket-01.jpg
Black Brant VII model

Black Brant VII

File:Black-Brant-8 XQC 2.jpg
Black Brant VIII

Black Brant VIII

File:Black Brant IX sounding rocket.jpg
Black Brant IX

Black Brant IX

File:Black-Brant-10 NASA-12-073.jpg
Black Brant X

Black Brant X

File:Black Brant XI launch from Wallops Island.jpg
Black Brant XI

Black Brant XI

File:Black Brant.jpg
Black Brant XII

Black Brant XII

  • Black Brant XII (a.k.a. Talos Terrier Black Brant Nihka) is a four-stage rocket with a Mk 11 Mod 5 Talos booster first stage, Terrier booster second stage (pre 2013 Taurus booster motors were used), Black Brant V third stage and Nihka fourth stage,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Black Brant XIIA<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Payload: manufacturer rated from Template:Convert (Black Brant XII)
  • Maximum flight height: Approximately Template:Convert, dependent on payload
  • Thrust: 116,001 lbf first stage Talos booster<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Mass at launch: Approximately Template:Convert, dependent on payload
  • Diameter:
  • Length: Template:Convert
  • First launch: 30 September 1988 (BEARS)
  • Last launch: 9 November 2023 (Beam-PIE)
  • Total launches: 35 (28 Black Brant XII, 7 Black Brant XII-A)
  • Successful launches: 33 (26 Black Brant XII, 7 Black Brant XII-A)

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Corliss, William R., NASA Scientific and Technical Information Office (1971), NASA Sounding Rockets, 1958-1968 A Historical Summary, NASA SP-4401. Washington D.C.

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