PHOTO 55 -- Flight C-7 : August 12, 1973
 | After descending gracefully for nearly a minute, the rocket softly touched down about 700 feet (200 metres) downrange, sans nosecone. It had been observed that the nosecone detached (tether broke) when the parachute deployed, and was seen free-falling. The nosecone impacted 200 feet from the launcher, and shattered upon impact. In this photo, my brother Blair assesses the rocket after its successful flight. The smaller parachute (partly draping the rocket) is the pilot chute, which was deployed by the ejection charge. This, in turn, pulled the larger main parachute out of the fuselage. |