NARTS Test Area D & E Historic Districts (1946-1989)
The Naval Air Rocket Test Station (NARTS) was grouped into eight (8) test area located along Snake Hill and Lake Denmark Roads. Utilized by both the Navy and a private company, Reaction Motors, Inc., these areas were considered to be the Navy’s premier rocket-engine test facilities. Area D tested the Bell X-1 (XLR-11) rocket engine in which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947; Area E tested the X-15 (XLR-99) rocket engine and was one of the largest static test stands on the east coast.
Acknowledgements: Reaction Motors Founders- Lovell Lawrence, Jr., Hugh Franklin Pierce, John Shesta, James Hart Wyld and their employees.
Marker is on Snake Hill Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
