Date: ca. 1947-1949
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 5ft 5in. x 9ft 7in. x 3ft 4in., 1450 lb. (165.1 x 292.1 x 101.6cm, 657.7kg)
Materials:
Steel, Paint, Aluminum, Cadmium Plating, Mylar (Polyester), Adhesive, Asbestos, Plastic, Phenolic Resin,
Rubber (Silicone)
This is a U.S.-built V-2 rocket engine made by the North American Aviation Company in 1947-1948 as part of their Navaho missile project. When North American started the project, it had no experience with rocket engines and built six V-2 engines to learn as much as possible about the construction of large-scale rocket engines. However, the engines were not fired in tests.
As Navaho expanded, North American developed a radically new and improved liquid propellant engine that was the start of the evolution of large-scale engines in the U.S. They included engines for the Redstone, Jupiter, Thor, and Atlas missiles and for the Saturn V Apollo launch vehicle and Space Shuttle. The U.S.-built V-2 engine was donated to the Smithsonian in 1970 by Rocketdyne.
Rocketdyne, Division of Rockwell International Corporation
