The Flickr Vikingrocket Image Generatr

The nose cone-less Viking no. 9 undergoes a static test firing on December 9, 1952, six days prior to its successful launch from Launch Complex 35 (LC-35), White Sands Proving Ground (WSPG), New Mexico.

A similarly nose cone-less Viking no. 1 is seen during a static test firing at LC-33:

i0.wp.com/www.drewexmachina.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/0...
Credit: Andrew LePage/Drew ExMachina website

"Viking 9 was the first to be launched from LC-35 after the program was relocated there from LC-33 in 1952. Numerous changes were made to Viking 9 to prevent a reoccurrence of the inadvertent Viking 8 launch, which had resulted from a series of mechanical and electrical failures. A gantry crane and a blast pit were added to LC-35 to support the Viking launches, and Viking 9 blasted off from LC-35 on December 5, 1952. Viking 9 was mostly successful, but its maximum altitude of 135 miles was below expectations due to an incorrect propellant ratio."

Above at/from:

wsmrmuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/LC-33-Report-Ju...
Credit: White Sands Missile Range Museum website

Prior to this rare photo, I had no idea there even was a Launch Complex 35, or that it was used for Viking launches…let alone it having a flame trench! Did you?!?
I thought all Vikings were launched from LC-33, from its simple launch pedestal, mounted upon what I assumed to have been just a ground-level concrete 'pad'. Apparently WRONG. Mr. LePage’s above linked photo reveals LC-33 to also have had a flame trench. I’ll be darned!

I wonder what the support structure under construction in the background is?

A wonderful website, with additional photos:

www.postwarv2.com/viking/sphotos/photos.html

Specifically, I assume taken a moment earlier:

www.postwarv2.com/viking/sphotos/34290.jpg
Both above credit: William Beggs/"Postwar V-2" website

“Composite photo showing 600,000 square miles of the earth’s surface. Photographs were made by camera in Viking 11 rocket from record-breaking altitude of 158 miles. The dark triangular area, upper left…[cropped/unavailable]”

Per another caption associated with the image, with my attempt at paraphrasing/deciphering the text:

“On May 24th, 1954, a Navy Viking Rocket fired at the White Sands Proving Ground, made a record-breaking climb to 153 miles and as a part of its mission, photographed with a camera mounted on the missile, some 600,000 square miles of the earth's surface…a segment of the earth, plainly showing the curvature, was photographed near the end of the rocket's trip aloft. The left section of the picture was photographed at 155 miles and the right at 138 miles. Distance from the camera to the horizon was 1,100 miles. The camera was looking on the horizon in the center of the photo. The Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean is on the right. A well-defined cold front extends from the lower left corner and runs parallel to the curvature of the earth.”

‘Generously’ made available by these ‘fine’ folks, at:

www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/on-may-24th-a-navy-...

“Vanguard TV-1, also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-One, was the second sub-orbital test flight of a Vanguard rocket as part of the Project Vanguard. Vanguard TV-1 followed the successful launch of Vanguard TV-0 a one-stage rocket launched in December 1956.

Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company (now Lockheed-Martin), which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida.

Vanguard TV-1 arrived at Cape Canaveral in February 1957. TV-1 was a two-stage rocket. Vanguard TV-1 used a liquid rocket from a modified Viking rocket for the first stage. The second stage was made by Grand Central Rocket Company. The second stage was a prototype solid-propellant rocket. This solid-propellant second stage later became the third stage of the final three-stage Vanguard vehicle. Three stages are needed to put a satellite in orbit, the goal of Vanguard.

Vanguard TV-1 lifted off on 1 May 1957 at 01:29 local time (06:29 GMT) from Cape Canaveral from launch pad LC-18A. Launch pad 18A was an older Viking launch stand that was shipped from White Sands Missile Range for use at Cape Canaveral. Pad 18A was also used on Vanguard Test Vehicle-Zero (Vanguard TV-0).

The main goal of Vanguard TV-1 was to test the solid-propellant rocket. The solid-propellant rocket needed to spin-up, separate from the first-stage booster, ignite, provide a proper propulsion and trajectory. Another goal was to test the techniques and equipment used to launch and track the rocket. The telemetry received during flight would record the proper propulsion and trajectory. The telemetry was picked up at the Air Force Missile Test Center's (AFMTC) tracking station. Vanguard TV-1 was successful, the two-stage rocket achieved an altitude of 195 km (121 mi) and a downrange distance of 726 km (451 mi), landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

With Vanguard TV-0 and Vanguard TV-1 successes, the next sub-orbital test flight, Vanguard TV-2, was launched in October 1957.”

Above, along with the image, at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_TV-1
Credit: Wikimedia

Also:

history.nasa.gov/SP-4202/chap10.html

I think this is a spectacular photograph of a rocket launch, especially considering that it was taken at night, in 1957. Check out the dynamic breaking off of ice from the launch vehicle. The depth & texture are veritably three-dimensional!
I’ve been hoping to come across a non-press version of this…you know…with press slug, of lower resolution/quality, mishandled, marked up, etc., etc…for years now. At long last, success. 👍
Neither here nor there, but it’s yet another “Birnback Publishing Service”-stamped photograph, which btw were all very well/pseudo-archivally taken care of, as evidenced by this specimen and others I’ve come across. As such, interestingly, once again, the erased “caption” on the verso is in written in German.

Viking no. 5, launched 1018 local time, 21 November 1950, carried a vast array of photomultiplier tubes, ionization chambers and Geiger counters, for radiation detection across a wide variety of energies and types. The rocket also carried two movie cameras to take high altitude footage of the Earth, up to its apogee of 108 miles (174 km). That altitude was however reduced slightly due to engine thrust being 5% lower than expected. The vehicle also carried Pirani gauges to measure air densities in the upper atmosphere.

Above is a combined paraphrasing of the content at the following sites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_(rocket)

www.astronautix.com/v/vikingsoundingrocket.html

Note the interesting tyne-like appendages at the apex of the nose cone. Possibly associated with the Pirani gauges?
Although I have no idea what WSMR checkout or pre-launch preparations consisted of for Viking launches, I'm thinking the venting was indicative of imminent launch. Like maybe that day? The nearly cloudless sky, which appeared to be the case for launch day, possibly confirms such.
Lastly, check out the bilateral venting - before venting was 😎!

See also:

www.postwarv2.com/viking/photos/al_viking_05_photo_set.html
Credit: Beggs Aerospace...probably THE best place for post-WWII V-2 & Viking rocket photos...and a whole lot more.
In this specific instance, it wais courtesy Mr. Art LeBrun. A good man who was an veritable encyclopedia of early NASA & others’ rocket photography:

www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/004623.html
Credit: collectSPACE website

Rest In Peace Art. Thank you for the always gracious sharing of your images, expertise & knowledge. You are missed.

“Looking down on the U.S. Navy’s 5 1/2-ton, 48 foot long Martin Viking rocket from the gantry which was used to prepare the rocket for its world’s record breaking altitude flight of 135 miles. The Viking, No. 7 of 10 to be built by the Glenn L. Martin Co. for the Naval Research Lab., reached a top speed of 4100 miles per hour. Previous record for high-altitude rockets was the German V-2 which reached a altitude of 114 miles.”

“TEAMED FOR DEFENSE: The Navy’s Viking Rocket begins its flight upward, during a test at White Sands Proving Ground, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The armed services have developed a number of rockets and guided missiles as possible weapons for the future. With the use of special instruments, several have been adapted to upper atmospheric research, thus performing a service to science.”

Note the relative candor of the description, unlike most of the time.

This is the first Viking no. 3 launch photo I’ve come across ‘in the wild’.

Also at the following site, probably THE best place for post-WWII V-2 & Viking rocket photos...and substantially more:

www.postwarv2.com/viking/sphotos/nasm_viking_03_photo_set...
Credit: Beggs Aerospace website

“VIKING – VANGUARD – TITAN: The Air Force TITAN’s first complete two-stage flight was a major advancement in the development of this newest ICBM. For the free world, it was a giant step into space, and for the Martin Company, it was another significant contribution to the advancement of U. S. missile design.
As this two-stage TITAN rose from Cape Canaveral, starting its epic flight, it cast a familiar silhouette against the sky – for the sleek, uncluttered lines of the Air Force TITAN are a trade-mark of Martin rockets.”

Artwork by James Boren, and another small “WIN”:

www.nygardgallery.com/boren.html
Credit: Thomas Nygard gallery website

See also. The two on the left?:

space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/titan-1.htm
Credit: the irrepressible site of Gunter, at:
space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/titan-1.htm
A fantastic site!

“VIKING ROCKET REACHES 51 1/2-MILE HEIGHT ON FIRST FLIGHT--

One of three. This photograph show the 45-foot long VIKING, Navy rocket, it its’ stand with the loading rack around it. ‘Drawbridge’ type platforms in the loading platform make it possible to work on any part of the rocket while it is in a vertical position. This series of photographs was made at the White Sands Proving Ground at Las Cruces, New Mexico.”

pictionid73383028 - catalogkemp00205 - title--images from space - filenamekemp00205.tif ---Image from the Robert Kemp Collection, graciously donated by Willis and Claudia Allen of Allen Airways Flying Museum. Note: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.)--Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Viking sounding rocket no. 2 launch sequence, 6 September 1949.

6.75" x 8".

In the first (and only) shipboard launch conducted during the Viking sounding rocket program, Viking 4 is launched from the deck of the USS Norton Sound near Jarvis Island in the Pacific (0.19 N 161.42 W), 11 May 1950, 1608 local time, at the intersection of the geographic and geomagnetic equators. The rocket reached an altitude of 105 miles (169 km), an altitude record for an American single-stage rocket and almost the maximum possible for the payload flown, in a nearly perfect flight. Onboard equipment included cosmic radiation measurement, and upper-air pressures and temperatures research.

“Vanguard TV-1, also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-One, was the second sub-orbital test flight of a Vanguard rocket as part of the Project Vanguard. Vanguard TV-1 followed the successful launch of Vanguard TV-0 a one-stage rocket launched in December 1956.

Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company (now Lockheed-Martin), which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida.

Vanguard TV-1 arrived at Cape Canaveral in February 1957. TV-1 was a two-stage rocket. Vanguard TV-1 used a liquid rocket from a modified Viking rocket for the first stage. The second stage was made by Grand Central Rocket Company. The second stage was a prototype solid-propellant rocket. This solid-propellant second stage later became the third stage of the final three-stage Vanguard vehicle. Three stages are needed to put a satellite in orbit, the goal of Vanguard.

Vanguard TV-1 lifted off on 1 May 1957 at 01:29 local time (06:29 GMT) from Cape Canaveral from launch pad LC-18A. Launch pad 18A was an older Viking launch stand that was shipped from White Sands Missile Range for use at Cape Canaveral. Pad 18A was also used on Vanguard Test Vehicle-Zero (Vanguard TV-0).

The main goal of Vanguard TV-1 was to test the solid-propellant rocket. The solid-propellant rocket needed to spin-up, separate from the first-stage booster, ignite, provide a proper propulsion and trajectory. Another goal was to test the techniques and equipment used to launch and track the rocket. The telemetry received during flight would record the proper propulsion and trajectory. The telemetry was picked up at the Air Force Missile Test Center's (AFMTC) tracking station. Vanguard TV-1 was successful, the two-stage rocket achieved an altitude of 195 km (121 mi) and a downrange distance of 726 km (451 mi), landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

With Vanguard TV-0 and Vanguard TV-1 successes, the next sub-orbital test flight, Vanguard TV-2, was launched in October 1957.”

Above per/at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_TV-1
Credit: Wikimedia

Also:

history.nasa.gov/SP-4202/chap10.html

Viking sounding rocket no. 10: The engine exploded on first launch attempt 30 June 1953. The rocket was rebuilt and was flown successfully 7 May 1954, to 136 miles (219 km).

Per Wikipedia

7" x 9".

Off to a new world's record, the Navy's Viking No. 11 roars up from its launching stand at White Sands Proving Ground, N.M. The Viking, built by Martin in Baltimore, Md., climbed to 158 miles--a new record for single stage rockets.

Paraphrased from:

www.loc.gov/item/93508445/

Viking no. 9 moment of ignition, WSMR.