Aug 16 1955

From The Space Library

First successful demonstration of Rockair technique (research rocket launched from aircraft) by ONR and University of Maryland team, a 2.75-inch FFAR rocket fired from a Navy F2H-2 aircraft to an altitude of approximately 180,000 feet. Rockair technique first suggested by Hermann Oberth (1929) and others.

Army Hawk missile first fired, at WSPG.

A conference held at the Hayden Planetarium in New York featured a group of scientists who urged the building and flight of an earth orbiting satellite as part of the International Geophysical Year. Attendees included Homer Newell, Kurt Richard Stehling, and Krafft Ehricke.

Willy Ley tells the British press that he thinks the first US space rockets will launch from near the Banana River missile base south of Daytona Beach in Florida.