Origins[edit]

After World War II, the United States experimented with captured
German V-2 rockets as part of the Hermes project. Based on
these experiments the U.S. decided in 1946 to develop its own
large liquid-fueled rocket design, to be called Neptune but
changed to Viking. The intent was both to provide an independent
U.S. capability in rocketry, to continue the Hermes project after
the V-2's were expended, and to provide a vehicle better suited to
scientific research. The Navy, in particular, needed a vehicle to
study the atmosphere and learn how to predict bad weather which
would affect the fleet.
The V-2 would tumble in the rare atmosphere at high altitudes.
Having been designed as a weapon, the V-2 carried a large
payload, approximately one ton of high explosive. This was more
than was considered necessary for the scientific instrument
payload of a high-altitude research rocket, but in the case of the
V-2, used for research, most of the payload was lead ballast
required for stable flight,[2] limiting the potential speed and altitude
that could be reached with the smaller payloads typically needed
for early scientific investigations.
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), partly at the instigation of
the American Rocket Society (ARS), chose to build the advanced
sounding rocket. Milton Rosen, head of the Viking project, credits
rocket pioneer Robert Goddard, the ARS, the California Institute
of Technology and the V-2 for the "profound influence" they had
on the design of the rocket.[3]
The Viking was the most advanced, large, liquid-fueled rocket
being developed in the U.S. at the time.[4]