Object Details
Manufacturer
Rocketdyne Div., North American Rockwell
Summary
This is the Redstone missile engine. Developed from 1950, it served as the powerplant for the Redstone missile, this country's first large-scale operational liquid propellant missile. On 31 January 1958, a modified version of the engine propelled the Jupiter-C launch vehicle that orbited the U.S.'s first artificial satellite, Explorer 1. The engine also launched the first American into space, Alan B. Shepard, aboard the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) on 5 May 1961.
In the Redstone missile the engine had a thrust of 78,000 pounds and used liquid oxygen and alcohol. As a booster for MR-3, it used Hydyne propellant, a hydrazine derivative, and produced 83,000 lbs of thrust.
Credit Line
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Inventory Number
A19750292000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
PROPULSION-Rocket Engines
Materials
Combustion chamber and injectors, 4130 steel; propellant lines and valves, aluminum allows; pumps and impellers, aluminum alloys; heat exchanger, non-ferrous metal; steam generator, steel
Dimensions
Diameter, nozzle, 31.5 in. ; overall diameter, approx. 33 in. x 100 in. long (83.82 x 254cm)
Other (combustion chamber, outside): 33 in. (83.82cm); length, combustion chamber, 65.5 in.
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19750292000