Jason
Jason  

The Jason was a sounding rocket developed by Aerolab in the mid 1950s. This five-stage vehicle was built upon stages from other rockets: one Honest John stage, two Nike stages, and one Recruit stage were topped by a Thiokol T-55 motor.

The five stages could propel the Jason to altitudes of 800 miles, reaching speeds of Mach 12.5. The Jason was developed for radiation monitoring, and its launches were used to monitor the Argus series of nuclear tests. Project Argus consisted of three high-altitude nuclear detonations that were used to study the production of charged particles in near space. A total of 22 Jason rockets were launched (though two failed), from Wallops Island (off of Virginia), Cape Canaveral, and Ramey AFB in Puerto Rico.

Six Jason launches were attempted at Cape Canaveral; all were in 1959, and all took place at Complex 10. All of the launches succeeded.

Jason specifications and performance
Length 57 ft., 4.4 in. Diameter 22.9 in.
Stage Engine(s) Propellant(s) Thrust
1 1 Allegheny M6 Solid 82,000 lbs.
2 1 Allegheny M5 Solid 48,700 lbs.
3 1 Allegheny M5 Solid 48,700 lbs.
4 1 Thiokol XM19E1 Recruit Solid 35,000 lbs.
5 1 Thiokol T-55 Solid 4,800 lbs.

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