Historical Photo of the Month - April 2006

Sergeant Brochure Cover
Photograph Number M-2638

This artist's conception of the Sergeant missile on a mobile launcher appeared on the cover of a 1960 Sergeant brochure. In January 1953 the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps asked JPL to study the feasibility of a missile with a solid-propellant rocket motor, as a replacement for the Corporal missile. In April 1954 JPL presented a proposal and design study, which were approved, and work on the Sergeant guided missile began at JPL by January 1955, with R&D and production of early test rounds. Sperry Utah Engineering Laboratory was a co-contractor with JPL, beginning in March 1956. Sperry worked on R&D tasks, testing, and production of later engineering and test models of the missile. About 100 Sperry engineers worked at JPL for several weeks or months, in order to become more familiar with the Sergeant system.

The JPL and Sperry teams planned a smooth transition to the full production phase, with Sperry employees taking over all aspects of the project in 1961. JPL was transferred from the Army to NASA in 1959 and the decision was made to concentrate on robotic exploration of space, so JPL withdrew from the Sergeant missile project ahead of schedule. On July 1, 1960 Sperry assumed technical management of the project. JPL Director William Pickering and Sergeant Project Director Robert Parks sent a memo to all personnel on July 22, 1960, congratulating them on a job well done and giving them each a copy of the brochure.

Archival Sources: JPL Sergeant Final Report 20-137; History Collection documents 3-492 and 3-1274; Lab-Oratory articles Oct. 1959, p.4 and Jan/Feb 1973, p. 7. For information about the history of JPL, contact the JPL Archives.

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