NIKE-AJAX LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINE. Aerojet General Corporation, 1950s, stainless steel and aluminum, 18 5/8 inches tall, with Aerojet General metal label listing order number and serial number. The Nike-Ajax was the United States' first operational surface-to-air missle. It used a solid propellant booster and a liquid propellant second stage to achieve subsonic speeds. The present example is the liquid sustainer engine which produced 2,600 pounds of thrust for about 20 seconds. It used red fuming nitric acid and JP-4, a type of jet fuel, as its propellants. It was a very simple system with no moving parts for ease of operation and high reliability. The propellants were forced into the combustion chamber by compressed air. Development of the engine was begun in late 1945 by Aerojet-General, who were working with the project's originator Bell Labs. The missile became operational in 1953 and remained in service until 1963, by which time the Nike Hercules had taken over.
NIKE-AJAX LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINE. Aerojet General Corporation, 1950s, stainless steel and aluminum, 18 5/8 inches tall, with Aerojet General metal label listing order number and serial number. The Nike-Ajax was the United States' first operational surface-to-air missle. It used a solid propellant booster and a liquid propellant second stage to achieve subsonic speeds. The present example is the liquid sustainer engine which produced 2,600 pounds of thrust for about 20 seconds. It used red fuming nitric acid and JP-4, a type of jet fuel, as its propellants. It was a very simple system with no moving parts for ease of operation and high reliability. The propellants were forced into the combustion chamber by compressed air. Development of the engine was begun in late 1945 by Aerojet-General, who were working with the project's originator Bell Labs. The missile became operational in 1953 and remained in service until 1963, by which time the Nike Hercules had taken over.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
