an early two-
stage rocket used for atmospheric
research. It was one foot in diameter and sixteen feet long.
-American People's Encyclopedia an early
model of a high-
altitude rocket equipped with meteorological instruments for gathering weather
information. The
rocket, designed and built in the United
States, was named the WAC
Corporal as engineers at the laboratory where it was first launched called it the "little sister" of the
Corporal, an earlier and much larger missile. (
WAC stands for the Women's Army Corps, and women in the corps were referred to as WACs.) In October 1945, during
testing, the WAC
Corporal reached the record
altitude for
American rockets of the
time-forty-three miles (69.2 km)into the earth's atmosphere.