Black Knight was a British launch vehicle to test and verify the design of a re-entry vehicle for the Blue Streak missile. RP-1 (refined petroleum) is a highly refined form of kerosene similar to jet fuel, used in the United States as a rocket fuel. ... High test peroxide or HTP is a high-concentrated (85 to 98 percent concentration) hydrogen peroxide. ... The Space Shuttle is initially launched with the help of solid-fuel boosters A Solid rocket or a solid fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). ... The pound-force is a non-SI unit of force or weight (properly abbreviated lbf or lbf). The pound-force is equal to a mass of one pound multiplied by the standard acceleration due to gravity on Earth (which is defined as exactly 9. ... The specific impulse (commonly abbreviated Isp) of a propulsion system is the impulse (change in momentum) per unit mass of propellant. ... The Space Shuttle is initially launched with the help of solid-fuel boosters A Solid rocket or a solid fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). ... Atmospheric entry is the transition from the vacuum of space to the atmosphere of any planet or other celestial body. ... The Blue Streak missile was a British ballistic missile designed in 1955. ...

The United Kingdom's first indigenous rocketry project, Black Knight was manufactured on the Isle of Wight, had its engines tested at The Needles^[1] and was launched at Woomera in Australia. Originally designed in 1955 by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and Saunders-Roe, 22 vehicles were fired between 1958 and 1965. The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire. ... A cold (un-ignited) rocket engine test at NASA A rocket engine is a reaction engine that can be used for spacecraft propulsion as well as terrestrial uses, such as missiles. ... The Needles from the cliffs inshore The Needles is a row of distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, England, close to Alum Bay. ... Woomera Launchpad in the 60s Woomera (31°09′ S 136°48′ E) is a town in South Australia, 488 km north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Saunders-Roe Princess G-ALUN History Saunders-Roe Limited was a British aircraft manufacturing company based in East Cowes, Isle of Wight. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

The rocket motors were designed and built by Armstrong-Siddeley at Anstey, near Coventry. The Armstrong-Siddeley automobiles (and later aircraft engines) were an English marque manufactured from 1919 (after the company was formed in 1917 by a merger between two Coventry_based companies, Armstrong-Whitworth and Siddeley-Deasy) to 1960. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ...

The first two vehicles were 'proving rounds' - that is, launches without a payload in order to prove the design of the rocket. The third firing carried a re-entry vehicle. This flight showed that the chosen design for the re-entry body was a success.

Further firings with different heads showed up some unusual phenomena, and further tests under the code names 'Gaslight' and 'Dazzle' were carried out in conjuction with the United States.

A variety of heads were flown in these tests, including a plain copper sphere and a silica sphere.

All the re-entry firings took place on clear moonless nights, so that the luminous wake of the re-entry body could be observed photographically.

An improved Black Knight, with the tank diameter increased from 36 inches to 54 inches, and a more powerful second stage, named Kestrel, was proposed for a further set of experiemnts codenamed 'Crusade'.

However, the Royal Aircraft Establishment made various studies into extending the vehicle into a satellite launcher. The Treasury refused to fund both projects, and the enlarged Black Knight was cancelled in favour of the Black Arrow satellite launcher. This article needs cleanup. ... Black Arrows engine This article is about the rocket, for the novel, see The Black Arrow Black Arrow was a British satellite carrier rocket, based on the Black Knight and Blue Streak rockets. ...

25 Black Knight vehicles were built in total. One (BK02) was used for ground testing. One (BK11) was fired as part of the ELDO project, to check out range facilities. 21 were fired as part of the re-entry experiments. The remaining two (BK10 and BK22) are in museums in Edinburgh and Liverpool. The European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) was a multinational consortium formed in the 1960s to build an indigenous European space launch vehicle. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. ...

A Black Knight rocket is on display at the Royal Museum Connect Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands nearly 11m high and stretches up for three floors. ^[2] The main hall of the Royal Museum of Scotland The Royal Museum is a museum on Chambers Street, in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I...

See also

• Rainbow Codes

The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects from after the Second World War until 1958 when they were replaced by an alphanumeric code system. ...

References