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Juno I
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{{Short description|Four-stage American expendable launch vehicle (1958β59)}} {{More citations needed|date=July 2021}} {{Use American English|date=November 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox rocket | name = Juno I | image = Juno I awaiting launch with Explorer I.jpg | caption = Juno I awaiting launch with Explorer I | upright = | function = Orbital [[launch vehicle]] | manufacturer = [[Chrysler]] for the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency|ABMA]] | country-origin = United States | height = {{cvt|21.2|m}} | diameter = {{cvt|1.78|m}} | mass = {{cvt|29060|kg}} | stages = 4 | capacities = {{Infobox rocket/payload | location = [[Low Earth orbit|LEO]] | kilos = {{cvt|11|kg}} }} | status = Retired | sites = [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5|LC-5]] and [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 26|26A]],<br/>[[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Canaveral Missile Annex]], [[Florida]] | launches = 6 | success = 3 | fail = 3 | partial = | first = 1 February 1958,<br/>03:47:56 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] | last = October 23, 1959 | stagedata = {{Infobox rocket/stage | type = stage | stageno = First | name = [[PGM-11 Redstone|Redstone]] (stretched) | engines = 1 [[Rocketdyne]] A-7 | thrust = {{cvt|42439|kg-f|kN lb-f}} | solid = no | SI = {{cvt|235|isp}} | burntime = 155 seconds | fuel = [[Hydyne]]/[[LOX]] }} {{Infobox rocket/stage | type = stage | stageno = Second | name = [[MGM-29 Sergeant|Baby Sergeant]] cluster | engines = 11 [[solid fuelled rocket|Solid]]<ref name="Boehm-NASA"/> | thrust = {{cvt|7480|kg-f|kN lb-f}} | solid = yes | SI = {{cvt|220|isp}} | burntime = 6 seconds | fuel = [[Polysulfide polymer|Polysulfide]]-[[aluminum]] and [[ammonium perchlorate]] ([[solid fuelled rocket|Solid]]) }} {{Infobox rocket/stage | type = stage | stageno = Third | name = [[MGM-29 Sergeant|Baby Sergeant]] cluster | engines = 3 [[solid fuelled rocket|Solid]] | thrust = {{cvt|2040|kg-f|kN lb-f}} | solid = yes | SI = {{cvt|236|isp}} | burntime = 6 seconds | fuel = [[Polysulfide polymer|Polysulfide]]-[[aluminum]] and [[ammonium perchlorate]] ([[solid fuelled rocket|Solid]]) }} {{Infobox rocket/stage | type = stage | stageno = Fourth | name = [[MGM-29 Sergeant|Baby Sergeant]] | engines = 1 [[solid fuelled rocket|Solid]] | thrust = {{cvt|680|kg-f|kN lb-f}} | solid = yes | SI = {{cvt|249|isp}} | burntime = 6 seconds | fuel = [[Polysulfide polymer|Polysulfide]]-[[aluminum]] and [[ammonium perchlorate]] ([[solid fuelled rocket|Solid]]) }} }} The '''Juno I''' was a four-stage American [[space launch vehicle]], used to launch lightweight payloads into [[low Earth orbit]]. The launch vehicle was used between January 1958 to December 1959. The launch vehicle is a member of the [[Redstone (rocket family)|Redstone launch vehicle family]], and was derived from the [[Jupiter-C]] [[sounding rocket]]. It is commonly confused with the [[Juno II]] launch vehicle, which was derived from the [[PGM-19 Jupiter]] [[medium-range ballistic missile]]. In 1958, a Juno I launch vehicle was used to launch America's first satellite, [[Explorer 1]]. == History == Developed as a part of the [[Explorers Program|Explorer Project]], the original goal for the launch vehicle was to place an [[satellite|artificial satellite]] into [[orbit]]. Following the [[Soviet Union]]'s launch of [[Sputnik 1]] on October 4, 1957 (and the resulting "[[Sputnik crisis]]") and the failure of the [[Vanguard 1]] launch attempt, the program received funding to match the Soviet space achievements. The launch vehicle family name was suggested in November 1957 by [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) Director [[Bill Pickering (rocket scientist)|Dr. William Pickering]], who proposed the name [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], after the Roman goddess and queen of the gods, as well as for its position as the satellite-launching version of the [[Jupiter-C]]. The fourth stage for the Juno I launch vehicle was derived following the September 1956 test launch of a Jupiter-C for the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]], which could have been the world's first satellite launch, had a fourth stage been loaded and fueled. A fourth stage would have allowed the nose cone to overshoot the target and enter orbit.<ref name="bello1959">{{cite news|author=Bello, Francis|year=1959|title=The Early Space Age|work=Fortune |url=http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/03/the-early-space-age-fortune-1959/?section=magazines_fortune|url-status=dead|access-date=June 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103053024/http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/03/the-early-space-age-fortune-1959/?section=magazines_fortune|archive-date=November 3, 2013}}</ref> The first launch of a Juno I launch vehicle was in early 1958, with the successful launch of [[Explorer 1]] satellite on February 1, 1958, at 03:47:56 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]], after the Soviet Union's [[Sputnik 1]] on October 4, 1957.<ref name="bello1959"/> The launch had been scheduled for January 29, 1958, but was scrubbed twice. Explorer 1 was the first U.S. satellite, and it confirmed the existence of the [[Van Allen radiation belt]]. Following the first successful launch, five more Juno I launch attempts occurred with two successes and three failures. The final launch attempt was on October 23, 1958, from [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Canaveral Launch Pad 5]], which ended in failure.<ref>{{cite web|title=JUNO I FACT SHEET |url=https://www.spaceline.org/cape-canaveral-rocket-missile-program/juno-i-fact-sheet/|publisher=Spaceline|access-date=2021-08-01}}</ref> == Launch vehicle == [[File:Juno I.svg|left|thumb|200x200px|Juno I diagram]] The Juno I consisted of a [[Jupiter-C]] first stage, based on the [[PGM-11 Redstone|Redstone missile]]; with three additional [[solid fuelled rocket|solid fuel]] stages based on the [[MGM-29 Sergeant|Sergeant missile]] to provide the added impulse to achieve orbit.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Juno-1 |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau_det/juno-1.htm |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}}</ref> The fourth stage was mounted on top of the "tub" of the third stage, and fired after third-stage burnout to boost the payload and fourth stage to an orbital velocity of {{cvt|8|km/s}}, with an acceleration of 25β51 g. The tub along with the fourth stage were set spinning while the launch vehicle was on the launch pad to provide gyroscopic force in lieu of a guidance system that would have required [[thrust vectoring]], [[vernier thrusters]], or a [[reaction control system]]. The booster guidance package (with the tub attached) separated from the first stage after burnout to provide attitude control until second stage ignition.<ref name="bello1959" /> This multi-stage system, designed by [[Wernher von Braun]] in 1956 for his proposed [[Project Orbiter]], obviated the need for a guidance system in the upper stages. It was the simplest method for putting a payload into orbit but having no upper-stage guidance, the payload could not achieve a precise orbit. Both the four-stage Juno I and three-stage Jupiter-C launch vehicles were the same height ({{cvt|21.2|m}}), with the added fourth-stage booster of the Juno I being enclosed inside the nose cone of the third stage. == Launch history == Juno I was launched six times by [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency|ABMA]] in 1958, intending to place satellites in [[Low Earth orbit|LEO]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Following the successful launch of [[Explorer 1]] on February 1, 1958, the first U.S. satellite, Juno I made five more launches before being retired in favor of [[Juno II]].<ref name=":0" /> Although Juno I's launch of the [[Explorer 1]] satellite was a huge success for the U.S. space program, only two of its remaining five flights were successful, [[Explorer 3]] and [[Explorer 4]],<ref name="Boehm-NASA">{{cite report |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/explorer_i_boehm_document.pdf |first1=J. |last1=Boehm |first2=H.J. |last2=Fichtner |first3=Otto A. |last3=Hoberg |title=Explorer satellites launched by Juno 1 and Juno 2 vehicles |publisher=NASA |location=US}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> giving the Juno I vehicle a mission total success ratio of 50%.<ref name=":0" /> The Juno I vehicle was replaced by the [[Juno II]] in 1959. The American public was happy and relieved that America had finally managed to launch a satellite after the launch failures in the Vanguard and [[Viking (rocket)|Viking]] series. With the relative success of the Juno I program, von Braun developed the [[Juno II]], using a [[PGM-19 Jupiter]] first stage, rather than a Redstone. {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |+Juno I launches<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Juno-1 (5 stage) |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau_det/juno-1_5st.htm |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}}</ref> |- ! scope="col" | Flight No. ! scope="col" | Date / time ([[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]) ! scope="col" | Rocket ! scope="col" | Launch site ! scope="col" | Payload ! scope="col" | Payload mass ! scope="col" | Outcome !Comments |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1 | February 1, 1958<br />03:47:56 | Juno I RS-29 (UE) | [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 26|LC-26A]] | [[Explorer 1]] | 22 kg | {{Success}} |Maiden launch of Juno I. First American satellite launched. Explorer 1 ceased transmission of data on May 23, 1958, when its batteries died, but remained in orbit for more than 12 years. It made a fiery reentry over the Pacific Ocean on March 31, 1970. |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2 | March 5, 1958<br />18:27:57 | Juno I RS-26 (UV) | [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 26|LC-26A]] | [[Explorer 2]] | 23 kg | {{Failure}} |Fourth stage did not ignite. |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3 | March 26, 1958<br />17:38:03 | Juno I RS-24 (UT) | [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5|LC-5]] | [[Explorer 3]] | 23 kg | {{Success}} |Decay from orbit on June 28, 1958. |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4 | July 26, 1958<br />15:00:57 | Juno I RS-44 (TT) | [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5|LC-5]] | [[Explorer 4]] | 29 kg | {{Success}} |Decay from orbit on October 23, 1959. |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5 | August 24, 1958<br />06:17:22 | Juno I RS-47 (TI) | [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5|LC-5]] | [[Explorer 5]] | 29 kg | {{Failure}} |Booster collided with second stage after separation, causing upper stage firing angle to be off. |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6 | October 23, 1958<br />03:21:04 | Juno I, RS-49 (HE) | [[Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 5|LC-5]] | [[Project Beacon|Beacon 1]] | 23 kg | {{Failure}} |Five stage version, Second stage separated prematurely from booster. |- |} == Gallery == <gallery> File:Launch of Jupiter C with Explorer 1.jpg|Juno I RS-29 UE launching [[Explorer 1]] File:Juno-1 explorer-2.jpg|Juno I RS-26 UV launching [[Explorer 2]] File:Explorer III.jpg|Juno I RS-24 UT launching [[Explorer 3]] File:Juno-1 (Explorer 4).jpg|Juno I RS-44 TT with [[Explorer 4]] File:Juno-1 44.JPG|Juno I RS-44 TT launching [[Explorer 4]] File:Juno I with Beacon 1.jpg|Juno I RS-49 HE with [[Project Beacon|BEACON 1]] File:Juno I RS CC-49.jpg|Juno I RS-49 HE launching [[Project Beacon|BEACON 1]] File:Juno I with Explorer I mock-up at KSC.jpg|Juno I with Explorer 1 mock-up at the [[Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex|Kennedy Space Center rocket garden]] File:NationalAirAndSpaceMuseum 10290004.jpg|Juno I with Explorer 1 mock-up at the [[National Air and Space Museum]] </gallery> == See also == * [[Juno II]] * [[Jupiter-C]] * [[PGM-19 Jupiter]] == References == {{Portal|Spaceflight}} {{Reflist|30em}} == External links == * Source: Data Sheet, Department of Astronautics, [[National Air and Space Museum]], [[Smithsonian Institution]]. {{Expendable launch systems}} {{US launch systems}} [[Category:1958 in spaceflight]] [[Category:Space launch vehicles of the United States]]
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