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XLR-115 hydrogen fueled rocket engine developed by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft

Local call number: RC08589

 

Title: XLR-115 hydrogen fueled rocket engine developed by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft

 

Date: July 1959

 

General note: In the late 1950s, the U.S. government created a fictitious town named Apix (Air Products Incorportated, Experimental) to build and test rocket engines powered by liquid hydrogen in order to keep pace with the Soviet Union. Highly classified and requiring a large degree of secrecy, the project was given the code name "Suntan." Land near the testing ground was platted for houses to conceal the true nature of the site and Apix was even given a bogus population to add to its cover as a small fertilizer-producing community. By June 1959, the use of liquid hydrogen was determined to be too costly, the project was abandoned, and Apix dismantled.

 

Physical descrip: 1 photoprint - col. - 10 x 8 in.

 

Series Title: Reference Collection

 

Repository: State Library and Archives of Florida, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 USA. Contact: 850.245.6700. Archives@dos.myflorida.com

 

Persistent URL: www.floridamemory.com/items/show/31540

 

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Uploaded on May 17, 2013
Taken in July 1959