Saturn Apollo Program

The second flight of the Saturn I vehicle, the SA-2, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on April 15, 1962. This vehicle had a secondary mission. After the first stage shutoff, at a 65-mile altitude, the water-filled upper stage was exploded, dumping 95 tons of water in the upper atmosphere. The resulting massive ice cloud rose to a height of 90 miles. The experiment, called Project Highwater, was intended to investigate the effects on the ionosphere of the sudden release of such a great volume of water.