Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
3-D Test: 38.1 x 30.5cm, 9.1kg (15 x 12 in., 20lb.)
Materials:
Steel
This is a section of grating used on the Vertical Test Stand No. 1 (VTS-1) of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory of Rocketdyne, in the Santa Susana Mountains, California. VTS-1 was an important site used by Rocketdyne and its predecessor from the 1950s for the testing of among the U.S.'s first large-scale liquid propellant rocket engines, starting with the Redstone missile engine.
This engine evolved in the engines for the Thor, Jupiter, and Atlas missiles, the engines for the Saturn V launch vehicle that took men to the Moon, and the Shuttle Main Engine. The VTS-1 was demolished in 1996 and the sign and other parts retrieved.
This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1996 by Rocketdyne.
Gift of Rockwell International Corporation, Rocketdyne Division.
