NOTS 5

Launch Failure

Launch Details

Date: 26 Aug 1958, 12:00 am UTC

Rocket: Project Pilot

Provider: US Navy

Mission

Type: Government/Top Secret

Orbit: Low Earth Orbit

Pad: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Air launch to Suborbital flight

Mission Description

The project pilot payloads were small cylindrical satellites. These missions intended to be the first to launch a satellite from an aircraft. They had only a single instrument, a very primitive infrared line scanning device to make IR images of the ground.