An Aerobee rocket soared up last week from Holloman Air Force Base, N. Mex. carrying an odd pay load. Inside its nose were two heavy steel cylinders containing thermite* and 2 lbs. each of metallic sodium. The rocket took off 20 minutes after sunset. When it reached 40 miles and had disappeared from sight, automatic instruments ignited the thermite in the cylinders. The sodium vaporized, jetting out of a hole in the rocket's nose, and a brilliant orange-colored trail appeared against the blue sky. This was the sodium; it picked up the light of...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
