Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
3-D Test: 11.4 x 11.4 x 7.6cm (4 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 in.)
Materials:
Steel
This is a bracket from the Vertical Test Stand No. 1 (VTS-1) of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, of Rocketdyne, in the Santa Susana Mountains, California. The VTS-1 was an important site used by Rocketdyne and its predecessor from the 1950s for the testing of 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, with the sign and other parts retrieved later. This object was donated to the Smithsonian by Rocketdyne.
Gift of Rockwell International Corporation, Rocketdyne Division.
