A-4 launches at White Sands

USA

History:

In the closing days of the war, America embarked upon its own rocket development program and established White Sands Proving Ground (now White Sands Missile Range) in New Mexico as its principal site for rocket testing and development.

In mid-August 1945, 300 railroad freight cars of V-2 components captured in the European Theater of Operations arrived in New Mexico. The Santa Fe Railroad spotted ten cars per day in Las Cruces, NM for unloading and transport by military and German personnel to the east side of the Organ Mountains.

To get an idea of the magnitude of the logistics problem, every railroad siding from El Paso, TX to Belen, NM, a distance of 210 miles, was full of cars. The Army hired every flatbed truck in Dona Ana County to move the material. The task was completed in 20 days.

Some of the components and material brought to White Sands included 215 combustion chambers, 180 sets of propellant tanks, 90 tail units, 100 sets of graphite jet vanes, and 200 turbopumps.

In addition to material, captured German scientists and missile experts were sent to the U.S. to assist in America's missile program. After careful screening, approximately 100 individuals were chosen to come to this country. A paperclip was placed on their folders and they became part of the program known as "Operation Paperclip."

German personnel at WSPG reached its peak of 39 in March 1946. Thereafter, the German specialists and engineers were replaced by American contractor personnel in the spring of 1947.

The widespread impression that many German missiles were brought to America intact and ready for flight was erroneous. No V-2s were received in flyable condition. The General Electric Company was contracted by the U.S. Army Ordnance Department to assemble, test and fire the V-2s.

A-4 rocket

A-4 TF1 rocket

Technical Data:

Launch List:

Tot. Nr	Type Nr	Launch Vehicle	Serial Nr	Launch Date	L. Time	Launch Site	Comment	Altitude	Range	Velocity	Burn time
1	1	A-4 (WS)	1	15/03/1946		WS	1st US ass V2 static test
2	2	A-4 (WS)	2	16/04/1946	21:47	WS, LC-33	Failure, steering vane broke at 6 sec	3,4	5,3		19,5
3	3	A-4 (WS)	3	10/05/1946	21:15	WS, LC-33	Public demonstration flight of 7 min.	70,9	31		59
4	4	A-4 (WS)	4	29/05/1946	21:12	WS, LC-33		69,6	37,6		60,2
5	5	A-4 (WS)	5	13/06/1946	23:40	WS, LC-33	Reached 2877 mph	73	40		58,5
6	6	A-4 (WS)	6	28/06/1946	19:25	WS, LC-33	Test succ., Fully instrumented by Navy	67	40		66,8
7	7	A-4 (WS)	7	9/07/1946	19:25	WS, LC-33	4e excess telt	83	61		60,6
8	8	A-4 (WS)	8	19/07/1946	19:11	WS, LC-33	Pump failure, rocket expl. at 28.5 sec	3,4	1,1		27
9	9	A-4 (WS)	9	30/07/1946	19:36	WS, LC-33	First use of telemetry	104	68,2		68,6
10	10	A-4 (WS)	10	15/08/1946	18:00	WS, LC-33	Steering failure, cutoff 18.5 sec, exploded	3,8	0,76		18,5
11	11	A-4 (WS)	11	22/08/1946	17:15	WS, LC-33	Gyro failure, emergency cutoff 6.5 sec	0,05	0,85		6,5
12	12	A-4 (WS)	12	10/10/1946	18:02	WS, LC-33	Reached 3647 mph. Instruments recovered	112	14,2		67,7
13	13	A-4 (WS)	13	24/10/1946	19:15	WS, LC-33	Earlier cutoff than planned.	65,2	18		59,8
14	14	A-4 (WS)	14	7/11/1946	20:31	WS, LC-33	Steering probl. 2 sec heading south horizontal	0,25	5		31
15	15	A-4 (WS)	15	21/11/1946	16:55	WS, LC-33	Poor engine performance.	62,75	11,8		62,5
16	16	A-4 (WS)	16	5/12/1946	20:08	WS, LC-33		104	111,1		69
17	17	A-4 (WS)	17	17/12/1946	21:11	WS, LC-33	Reached 3684 mph, carried rocket mail.	116	21		69,6
18	18	A-4 (WS)	18	10/01/1947	21:13	WS, LC-33		72	25		60
19	19	A-4 (WS)	19	23/01/1947	22:22	WS, LC-33	HERMES A-1 telemetry test ang GE autopilot	31	10,3		59
20	20	A-4 (WS)	20	20/02/1947	18:16	WS, LC-33	Blossom-1 capsule recovery	68	13,9		58
21	21	A-4 (WS)	21	7/03/1947	18:23	WS, LC-33	Reached 3444 mph.	101	58		63
22	22	A-4 (WS)	22	1/04/1947	20:10	WS, LC-33		80	24		57
23	23	A-4 (WS)	23	8/04/1947	10:10	WS, LC-33		64	19		57
24	24	A-4 (WS)	24	17/04/1947	23:22	WS, LC-33		87	45		66
25	25	A-4 (WS)	26	15/05/1947	23:08	WS, LC-33	Steering problems	76	35		63,5
26	26	A-4 (WS)	29	10/07/1947	19:18	WS, LC-33	New aluminium cone. Early cutoff 32 sec	10	1,4		32
27	27	A-4 (WS)	30	29/07/1947	12:55	WS, LC-33	5:55 am launch	98	1		62,5
29	29	A-4 (WS)	27	9/10/1947	19:15	WS, LC-33	Reached 3400 mph	97	28		62,5
30	30	A-4 (WS)	Special	20/11/1947	23:47	WS, LC-33	Propulsion failure at +36 sec	13	1,5		39
31	31	A-4 (WS)	28	8/12/1947	21:42	WS, LC-33		65	28		61,5
32	32	A-4 (WS)	34	22/01/1948	20:12	WS, LC-33		99	48		67
33	33	A-4 (WS)	36	6/02/1948	17:17	WS, LC-33		65,8	1,4		65,8
34	34	A-4 (WS)	39	19/03/1948	23:10	WS, LC-33	Failure, ran out of H2O2 at 25 sec	3	1		25
35	35	A-4 (WS)	25	2/04/1948	13:47	WS, LC-33		89	48		69,5
36	36	A-4 (WS)	38	19/04/1948	19:54	WS, LC-33	Failure steering	35	32		57
37	37	A-4 (WS)	35	27/05/1948	14:15	WS, LC-33		87	41		62,4
38	38	A-4 (WS)	37	11/06/1948	10:22	WS, LC-33	Failure, early cutoff	39	17		57,3
39	39	A-4 (WS)	40	26/07/1948	18:03	WS, LC-33	Failure, propulsion. Early cutoff	60,3	23		60,8
40	40	A-4 (WS)	43	5/08/1948	12:07	WS, LC-33	Reached 3545 mph	104	53		65,5
41	41	A-4 (WS)	33	2/09/1948	01:00	WS, LC-33		94	40		63
42	42	A-4 (WS)	44	18/11/1948		WS, LC-33	Hermes-B payload of lenticular ramjets	90	29		65,5
43	43	A-4 (WS)	42	9/12/1948	16:08	WS, LC-33	Steering vane failure	67	25		60,6
44	44	A-4 (WS)	45	28/01/1949	17:20	WS, LC-33	Failure, low thrust	37	10,5		56,5
45	45	A-4 (WS)	48	17/02/1949	17:00	WS, LC-33		79	37		63,5
46	46	A-4 (WS)	41	21/03/1949	06:43	WS, LC-33	Used cone of new aircraft	80	32,4		65,5
47	47	A-4 (WS)	50	11/04/1949	22:05	WS, LC-33	Propulsion failure	53	20		62,5
48	48	A-4 (WS)	46	5/05/1949	15:15	WS, LC-33	Failure, cutoff 25.7 sec	5	1,4		25,6
49	49	A-4 (WS)	47	14/06/1949	22:35	WS, LC-33	Reached 3005 mph	83	37		67,3
50	50	A-4 (WS)	32	16/09/1949	23:19	WS, LC-33	Failure, tail explosion 10.7 sec	3	0,5		10,7
51	51	A-4 (WS)	49	29/09/1949	16:58	WS, LC-33	NRL Ionos 1	94	43,5		65,5
52	52	A-4 (WS)	56	18/11/1949	16:03	WS, LC-33	UM Sampling,Grenades	77	32		66,4
53	53	A-4 (WS)	31	8/12/1949	19:15	WS, LC-33	with Albert-4 mokey, killed on impact	83,5	37		65
54	54	A-4 (WS)	53	17/02/1950	18:01	WS, LC-33		92	40,5		65
55	55	A-4 (WS)	51	31/08/1950	17:09	WS, LC-33	Reached 3136 mph	85	36,1		64,9
56	56	A-4 (WS)	61	26/10/1950	23:02	WS, LC-33	Speciale V2 test, explosion at 49.7 sec	5			49,7
57	57	A-4 (WS)	54	18/01/1951	20:14	WS, LC-33	LOX flow failure	1,5	0,5		44
58	58	A-4 (WS)	57	9/03/1951	03:16	WS, LC-33	Failure, tail explosion 15.5 sec	2	0,2		18,5
59	59	A-4 (WS)	55	14/06/1951	13:48	WS, LC-33	Separation explosives detonated at liftoff
60	60	A-4 (WS)	52	28/06/1951	21:43	WS, LC-33	Failure, tail explosion 8 sec	3	0,4		22
61	61	A-4 (WS)	TF1	22/08/1951	19:00	WS, LC-33	Altitude shot, training flight	132,6	50
62	62	A-4 (WS)	60	29/10/1951	21:04	WS, LC-33	Mach Probe Temperature Experiment	87,6
63	63	A-4 (WS)	59/TF2	20/05/1952	16:06	WS, LC-33	Nose bottles and cameras recovered	78
64	64	A-4 (WS)	TF3	22/08/1952	07:33	WS, LC-33	Reached 4060 mph, spectrograph failed	132,5	52,2		62,6
65	65	A-4 (WS)	TF5	19/09/1952	15:49	WS, LC-33	Propulsion failure, exploded at 28 sec	4,3			28

Notes:

- All launches from White Sands LC-33, New Mexico, except nr 28 from USS Midway off Bermuda.
- All "Launch Date" are in UTC time.
- Payload experiments key:

	A = Cosmic radiation		H = Sky brightness
	B = Solar radiation			I = Winds
	C = Ionosphere				J = Photographic
	D = Pressure				K = Meteorites
	E = Temperature				L = Composition
	F = Biological				M = Magnetic fields
	G = Density					N = Airglow

Summary:

There were between 69 and 73 V-2's lauched from White Sands Proving Grounds (WSPG) or as it is referred to today as White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico. Actual number of launches is still to be verified.
The launches at White Sands began April 16, 1946 and ended September 19, 1952.
V-2 No. 1: First firing, static test for 57 seconds; March 15, 1946
V-2 No. 2: First flight test, altitude 18,000 feet (3.4 mls) - Steering vane broke at 6 sec, then a fin was lost at 11 sec, cutoff at 19 sec; April 16, 1946
V-2 No. 3: First high altitude flight, altitude 70 miles; May 10, 1946
V-2 No. 9: First separation of nose cone; July 30, 1946
V-2 No. 13: Motion pictures showing Earth's curvature: October 24, 1946
V-2 No. 17: Reached 3684 mph, also carried "rocket mail". Instruments smashed. Dec 17, 1946.
V-2 No. 19: First auto pilot system used, forerunner of remote controlled rocket; Jan.23, 1947
V-2 No. 20: Blossom-1 capsule recovery after 44 min, with rocket flights of 6 min. Para from 19 mls. Feb 20, 1947
V-2 No. 37: Blossom-3 with X-2 nose and Albert-1 rhesus monkey - killed. June 11, 1948
V-2 No. 40: Photographs of 800,000 square miles of Earth's surface; July 26, 1948
V-2 No. 47: Blossom-4B reached 3005 mph with Albert-2 monkey - killed. June 14, 1949.
V-2 No. 32: Blossom-4C exploded at 10.7 sec with Albert-3 monkey. Sep.16, 1949.
V-2 No. TF-1: Altitude record of 213 km or 132.6 miles; August 22, 1951.
V-2 No. TF-2: Nose-tip bottles and cameras recovered by parachute. May 20, 1952.
There were enough parts to build 100 V-2's shipped from Germany to New Mexico at the end of WWII.

Ref.: #7, #14, #35, #57; #102 - update: 17.07.15

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