Bumper (rocket)
Bumper (also RTV-G-4 called) is the name of an A4 - rocket with attached WAC Corporal rocket. It was successfully started for the first time on February 24, 1949. Their summit height was 400 km.
The bumper was the first multi-stage rocket to use liquid propellants . The first stage was a modified A4 missile that was captured in Germany towards the end of World War II, while the second stage was a modified version of the American WAC missile. In total, the bumper was launched six times from the White Sands Missile Range and twice from Cape Canaveral . Of the eight attempts, however, only three succeed. Both height and speed records were set:
- February 24, 1949: altitude record: 393 km
- July 29, 1950: Speed record: 5260 km / h
Flights of the bumper missile
| Missile number | Start date | Launch site | Pad | Maximum height | comment |
| 1948 | |||||
| Bumper 1 | May 13, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 127.3 km | Premature burnout of the WAC missile |
| Bumper 2 | August 19, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 13.4 km | Failure of the first stage due to the interruption of the fuel flow |
| Bumper 3 | September 30, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 150.3 km | Failure of the WAC missile |
| Bumper 4 | November 1, 1948 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 4.8 km | Explosion in the rear of the A4 |
| 1949 | |||||
| Bumper 5 | February 24, 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 393 km | First successful flight, step separation at 32.2 km altitude |
| Bumper 6 | April 21, 1949 | White Sands | Pad 33 | 49.9 km | The A4 burned out prematurely, the WAC missile failed to fire |
| 1950 | |||||
| Bumper 8 | July 24, 1950 | Cape Canaveral | Pad 3 | 16.1 km | Long distance flight over 320 km, first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral |
| Bumper 7 | July 29, 1950 | Cape Canaveral | 16.1 km | Long distance flight over 320 km | |