The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

372 SERT (Space Electric Rocket Test)
Sergeant A night launch of a
Sergeant missile from White
Sands Proving Ground. U.S.
Army/White Sands Missile Range
(called Baby Sergeants) encased in a metal cylinder, while
the third stage was powered by three more Sergeants.
Length: 10.5 m
Diameter: 0.8 m
Mass at liftoff: 4,580 kg
Range: 120 km
SERT (Space Electric Rocket Test)
NASA suborbital and orbital tests of the performance of
electron-bombardment ion engines (see ion propulsion).
SERT 2 also studied how the prolonged operation of
such engines affects other spacecraft systems. The two
engines on SERT 2 ran, on and off, for about a decade.
(See table, “SERT Missions.”)