RM-86 Exos

RM-86 Exos

Function	Sounding rocket
Manufacturer	University of Michigan
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	12.941 metres (42 ft 5.5 in)
Diameter	580 millimetres (22.9 in)
Mass	2,660 kilograms (5,870 lb)
Stages	Three
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Eglin AFB
Total launches	10
Successes	9
Failures	1
First flight	June 26, 1958
Last flight	November 2, 1965

The Exos, originally designated RM-86 and later PWN-4, was a sounding rocket developed by the University of Michigan and NACA for use by the United States Air Force.

History

Developed by the University of Michigan for use by the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, Exos used a three-stage configuration, consiting of a first stage rocket from an Honest John rocket, a second stage from a Nike-Ajax surface-to-air missile, and a Thiokol XM19 upper stage. It was designated XRM-86 in April 1959, and redesignated PWN-4A in June 1963.

Utilising a rail launcher, the first launch of a full Exos vehicle took place in June 1958, launched from the Wallops Flight Facility. Eight operational launches took place between 1960 and 1965, launched from Eglin Air Force Base.

Launch history

Date/Time (GMT)	Rocket	Launch site	Outcome	Apogee	Mission
1958-06-26	Exos	Wallops Island	Sucess	370 kilometres (230 mi)	Test launch
1958-09-25	Exos	Wallops Island	Sucess	460 kilometres (290 mi)	Test launch
1960-02-19	Exos	Eglin AFB	Failure	Apogee 37 kilometres (23 mi)	Chemical release research
1961-08-11	Exos	Eglin AFB	Success	Apogee 114 kilometres (71 mi)	Ionospheric research
1962-08-03	Exos	Eglin AFB	Success	Apogee 365 kilometres (227 mi)	Bipolar Probe ionospheric research
1962-10-25	Exos	Eglin AFB	Success	Apogee 669 kilometres (416 mi)	Ionospheric research
1963-07-25	Exos	Eglin AFB	Success	Apogee 623 kilometres (387 mi)	Ionospheric research
1965-05-25	Exos	Eglin AFB	Success	Apogee 488 kilometres (303 mi)	Ionospheric research
1965-11-02	Exos	Eglin AFB	Success	Apogee 686 kilometres (426 mi)	International Quiet Sun Year aeronomy mission

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Parsch, Andreas (2002). "University of Michigan RM-86/PWN-4 Exos". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles. designation-systems.net. http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/n-4.html. Retrieved 2014-05-11. 
• Shortal, Joseph Adams (1978). A New Dimension, Wallops Island Flight Test Range: The First Fifteen Years. Hampton, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ASIN B004VJHCKC. 
• Skoog, Å. Ingemar and R. Cargill Hall, ed (1990). History of Rocketry and Astronautics: Proceedings of the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth History Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics. AAS History Series. 10. Springfield, Virginia: American Astronautical Society. ISBN 978-0877033295.