1960-04-19 USA Scout Rocket First Test Firing

A Scout X first test firing cover from "Goldcraft", postmarked at Wallops Island with a hand cancel on April 19, 1960, a day after the event. The test failed after its first-stage burnout.

The vehicle flown was designated Scout X (SX-1), the experimental predecessor to the operational Scout X-1. Scout was developed by NASA's Langley Research Center as a relatively small, inexpensive launch vehicle for scientific and technological missions. It was also significant as NASA's first launch vehicle designed around solid-propellant stages.

The April 18 vehicle was deliberately a development configuration rather than a complete Scout. Its first and third stages were live, while the second and fourth stages were inert/dummy stages. The flight was intended primarily to test the performance and interaction of the Scout's propulsion, guidance and control systems. The vehicle lifted off from Wallops Island Launch Area 3 on April 18, 1960. Unfortunately, the test ended in failure: the vehicle broke up shortly after first-stage burnout, before completing the planned flight.

(Reference from Learning Through Failure: The Early Rush of the Scout Rocket Program)