The Cherokee was an experimental rocket built by the Cook Electric Co. for use by the United States Air Force during the 1950s for the testing of ejection seats.
History Made from aluminum,Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p.179. Cherokee was a blocky, simple design that was designed for air-launch from a B-29 bomber.Shinabery, Michael. "Whoosh failures were 'instructive' ". October 26, 2008. Alamogordo Daily News. Accessed 2014-05-17. It was operated as part of Project Whoosh, an effort to determine if the use of ejection seats at supersonic speeds was feasible.Burgess and Dubbs 2006, p.107.
Launched from the B-29 mothership at an altitude of Parsch 2003 it would fire a solid-fueled rocket to accelerate to supersonic speed, at which point the ejection seat, containing an anesthetized chimpanzee as a test subject, would be fired. The first test took place on January 26, 1954, at Edwards Air Force Base; another test in June was held before the project moved to Holloman Air Force Base, with two further tests being carried out in July 1955 and April 1956.Bushnell 1958, p.56. None of the four chimpanzees used in the tests survived due to difficulties with the ejection system, however the project was considered a partial success.
References Citations
Bibliography
Burgess, Colin, and Chris Dubbs. Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle. 2006. New York: Springer Publishing. . Bushnell, David. History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics at the U.S. Air Force Missile Development Center, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico: 1946-1958 . Historical Division, Office of Information Services, Air Force Missile Development Center, Air Research and Development Command, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. 1958. Accessed 2014-05-17. .