The Astrobee-D
This is a full-scale model of the Aerojet-General Astrobee-D, a small sounding rocket built to carry compact meteorological or physics payloads for experiments in the D-region of Earth’s atmosphere. The Space Sciences Lab has used similar rockets for more than 50 sounding rocket projects.
Astrobee-D had a diameter of 15 cm (6 inches) and a length of 3.5 meters (12 feet.) The motor used a new solid propellant with a dual-thrust profile. The rocket had the capability to carry a 4.5 kg (10-pound) payload to a height of 150 km (93 miles) or a 13.6 kg (30-pound) payload to 100 km (62 miles.) The Astrobee rocket could be utilized in a temperature range from -45°C (-50°F) to +150°C (300°F) without the need to provide special handling or environmentally-controlled storage.
We would like to thank the following people for their assistance with this model: Cree P. and Ruben G. of the Berkeley Marine Center for painting this rocket. At the Space Sciences Lab: Will M. for locating the rocket kit, Terry M. for assembly and mounting design, Jeremy M. and Andrew W. for creating the nozzle, and James S., Terry M. and Dean C. for mounting.
