Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 63 ft. tall x 5 ft. 10 in. diameter x 7 ft. 5 in. wing span (1920.24 x 177.8 x 226.06cm)
Materials:
Aluminum alloy body, engine, steel; six fiberglass bottles above engine; nose cone tip, overall, aluminum
This is the Redstone, one of the most historically important developments in U.S. rocket technology. It was the U.S.'s first large-scale operational liquid-propellant missile and was modified as the Jupiter-C that placed the U.S.'s first artificial satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit in 1958. In 1961 the Mercury-Redstone rocket launched the first American into space, Alan B. Shepard.
As a missile, the Redstone had a range of 200-250 miles and carried either a conventional or nuclear warhead. The Redstone made its first successful flight in 1953 and became operational in 1958. It was replaced by the all-solid-fuel Pershing missile in 1964. This missile was donated to the Smithsonian in 1978 by the U.S. Army.
Transferred from U.S. Army
