SECEDE II Chemical Payloads

Abstract

For the SECEDE II operation, six barium vapor release payloads were successfully launched on rocket vehicles during the months of January and February, 1971, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The SECEDE II payload matrix included barium vapor releases based on several chemical thermite weights including five each 48-kg releases, three each 1-kg releases, one 320-kg release, and one 16-kg release. With the exception of the 1-kg releases, all releases were made by simultaneous ignition of a number of canisters each containing 16-kg of thermite. Altitude effects were studied by making 48-kg releases at 150, 185, and 250 km, with 185 km as the primary release attitude. Barium vapor was produced by the exothermic reaction of a pressed mixture of barium metal chips and cupric oxide powder. The mixture ratio was 2.5 moles of barium per mole of cupric oxide with an addition of 1.8 percent by weight barium azide.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 15, 1971
Accession Number
AD0737094

Entities

People

  • George C. Alford
  • Ray N. Bybee

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Assembly
  • Canisters
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Combustion Products
  • Contracts
  • Exothermic Reactions
  • Field Tests
  • Firing Circuits
  • Igniters
  • Ignition
  • Measurement
  • Pressure Switches
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Rocket Propulsion.
  • Surface Engineering/Surface Coating Technology.