[75] Sounding rockets have been operational on a regular basis since 1945 when the first Wac Corporal flew successfully. Since then, they have become an ever more useful tool of space science. NASA launches roughly 150 sounding rockets a year; collectively other U.S. agencies match that figure. Thousands of small meteorological rockets are also used each year. Looking at the unfolding of sounding rocket technology within NASA, developments may be summarized as follows:

• NASA has concentrated all sounding rocket development and procurement at Goddard Space Flight Center. The basic Goddard sounding rocket organization was transferred from the Naval Research Laboratory in December 1958 and has remained essentially unchanged since that time.
• Goddard has not had to develop a new "stable" of sounding rockets. Utilizing the Aerobees, Nike-Cajuns, and other off-the-shelf rockets (many originally developed by PARD), NASA has been able to meet most needs of the scientific community. New vehicle developments that have been considered essential to its mission have been the Aerobee 170, Aerobee 350, Nike-Apache, Nike-Tomahawk, Javelin, and Black Brant. Except for the Black grants, these rockets were primarily modifications or new combinations of existing hardware.
• The development of accurate attitude-control devices has greatly increased the effectiveness of sounding rockets in space astronomy and solar physics.
• With the coming of scientific satellites, sounding rockets temporarily seemed obsolete for space research. But their intrinsic simplicity and low cost, their short lead times, and the informality of sounding rocket research have effectively erased that stigma.
• [76] NASA's cooperative international sounding rocket programs have expanded greatly over the past decade, involving some 19 countries. Such programs have helped enhance U.S. prestige all over the world.
• Satellites are more spectacular and have made many major discoveries in space science, but sounding rockets have not been accorded their fair share of credit for new discoveries and the elucidation of recognized phenomena in space science.

---