Rocket Engine, Liquid Fuel, A-7, Redstone Missile
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Object Details
- Manufacturer
- Rocketdyne Div., North American Rockwell
- Summary
- The Redstone engine is one of the most historic developments in U.S. rocket technology. As the powerplant for the Redstone missile, it was this country's first large-scale operational rocket engine. It went on to power the Jupiter-C, a modification of the Redstone missile that placed the U.S.'s first artificial satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. In 1961, another modified Redestone, the Mercury-Redstone 3, launched the first American into space, Alan B. Shepard. The thrust of the engine as used in the Redstone missile was 78,000 lbs. As modified for use as a booster for Shepard's Mercury spacecraft, it produced 83,000 lbs of thrust. The engine shown here appears to have been an earlier experimental model of the A-7 version. It was donated to the Smithsonian in 1970 by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, Inc.
- Inventory Number
- A19700252000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- PROPULSION-Rocket Engines
- Materials
- Combustion chamber and injectors, 4130 steel; propellant lines, pumps, impellers, and valves, aluminum alloys.
- Dimensions
- Overall: 8 ft. 4 in. long x 2 ft. 9 in. diameter (254 x 83.82cm)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19700252000
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv90ad493b1-3584-4c10-9942-2259d4ee8ab2
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