Editing V-2 rocket (section)

=== United States ===
{{Main|V-2 sounding rocket}}

[[File:Bumper8 launch-GPN-2000-000613.jpg|thumb|US test launch of a [[Bumper (rocket)|''Bumper'' V-2]].]]

[[Operation Paperclip]] recruited German engineers and [[Operation Paperclip#Similar operations|Special Mission V-2]] transported the captured V-2 parts to the United States. At the close of the Second World War, more than 300 rail cars filled with V-2 engines, [[fuselage]]s, [[propellant]] tanks, gyroscopes, and associated equipment were brought to the railyards in [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]], so they could be placed on trucks and driven to the [[White Sands Proving Grounds]], also in [[New Mexico]].

In addition to V-2 hardware, the U.S. Government delivered German mechanization equations for the V-2 guidance, navigation, and control systems, as well as for advanced development concept vehicles, to U.S. defence contractors for analysis. During the 1950s, some of these documents were useful to U.S. contractors in developing direction cosine matrix transformations and other inertial navigation architecture concepts that were applied to early U.S. programs, such as the Atlas and Minuteman guidance systems as well as the Navy's Subs Inertial Navigation System.<ref>{{cite web|title=V2 Information|url=http://v2.x-factorial.com/|work=X-Factorial.com|access-date=14 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214234047/http://v2.x-factorial.com/|archive-date=14 December 2013}}</ref>

A committee was formed with military and civilian scientists to review payload proposals for the reassembled V-2 rockets. By January 1946, the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps invited civilian scientists and engineers to participate in developing a space research program using the V-2. The committee was initially named the [[Upper Atmosphere Research Panel|"V2 Rocket Panel"]], then the "V2 Upper Atmosphere Research Panel", and finally the "Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel".<ref>See: Johan A.M. Bleeker, Johannes Geiss, and Martin C.E. Huber, ed.s, ''The Century of Space Science'', vol. 1 (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NMk3adgqfawC&pg=PA41 p. 41.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428123850/https://books.google.com/books?id=NMk3adgqfawC&pg=PA41 |date=28 April 2016 }} See also: [http://www.spaceline.org/history/6.html SpaceLine.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113104258/http://spaceline.org/history/6.html |date=13 November 2012 }}</ref> This resulted in an eclectic array of experiments that flew on V-2s and helped prepare for American manned [[space exploration]]. Devices were sent aloft to sample the air at all levels to determine [[atmospheric pressure]]s and to see what [[gases]] were present. Other instruments measured the level of [[cosmic radiation]].

[[File:First photo from space.jpg|thumb|The [[first photo of Earth from space]] was taken from [[V-2 No. 13]] launched by US scientists on 24 October 1946.]]

Only 68 percent of the V-2 trials were considered successful.<ref>{{cite web |title=V-2 Rocket Components |url=http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/WSHist/V2/Pages/V2RocketComponents.aspx |publisher=U.S. Army, White Sands Missile Range |year=2010 |access-date=14 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902060914/http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/WSHist/V2/Pages/V2RocketComponents.aspx |archive-date=2 September 2013 }}</ref> On 29 May 1947, a [[Hermes project|Modified V-2]] had an error in its guidance, and landed near Juarez, Mexico, causing an international incident.<ref>{{cite web |last=Beggs |first=William |url=http://www.postwarv2.com/hermes |title=Hermes Program |access-date=1 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930100414/http://www.postwarv2.com/hermes/ |archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref>

The [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] attempted to launch a German V-2 rocket at sea—one test launch from the aircraft carrier [[USS Midway (CV-41)|USS ''Midway'']] was performed on 6 September 1947 as part of the Navy's [[Operation Sandy]]. The test launch was a partial success; the V-2 went off the pad but splashed down in the ocean only some {{cvt|10|km|0}} from the carrier. The launch setup on the Midway's deck is notable in that it used foldaway arms to prevent the missile from falling over. The arms pulled away just after the engine ignited, releasing the missile. The setup may look similar to the [[R-7 Semyorka]] launch procedure but in the case of the R-7 the trusses hold the full weight of the rocket, rather than just reacting to side forces.

The [[PGM-11 Redstone]] rocket is a direct descendant of the V-2.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Dictionary/REDSTONE/DI149.htm |title=Redstone rocket |publisher=centennialofflight.net |access-date=27 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220003451/http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Dictionary/REDSTONE/DI149.htm |archive-date=20 February 2014 }}</ref>