The Nike-Cajun was a two-stage sounding rocket built by combining a Nike base stage with a Cajun upper stage. It was launched 714 times between 1956 and 1976 and was the most frequently used sounding rocket of the western world. The Nike Cajun had a launch weight of 698 kg (1538 lb), a payload of 23 kg (51 lb), a launch thrust of 246 kN (55,300 lbf) and a maximum altitude of 120 km (394,000 ft). It had a diameter of 42 cm (1 ft 4½ in) and a length of 7.70 m (25 ft 3 in). The maximum speed of the Nike-Cajun was 6,760 km/h (4,200 mph).
The Cajun stage of this rocket was named for the Cajun people of south Louisiana because one of the rocket's designers, J. G. Thibodaux, was a Cajun.
The Nike-Cajun configuration was also used by one variation of the MQR-13 BMTS target rocket.
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