Date: 1933
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 19.05 x 8.89cm, 0.8kg (7 1/2in. x 3 1/2in., 1.8lb.)
Materials:
Cast and machined aluminum alloy
This is the American Rocket Society's ARS Rocket Motor No. 1. It was meant to launch the Society's Rocket No. 1 but the vehicle was damaged during a static test and the motor wound up powering ARS Rocket No. 2 on 14 May 1933. This was the Society's first flight. The motor is thus called ARS Rocket Motor No. 1 & 2. ARS No. 2 was launched from the beach at Marine Park, Great Kills, Staten Island, New York, and went up 250 feet in two seconds.
The aluminum motor used gasoline and liquid oxygen and was designed by Hugh Franklin Pierce and G. Edward Pendray of the Society's Experimental Committee. It was donated in 1966 to the Smithsonian by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Gift of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
