Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is the Gorgon II-A, claimed as the U.S.'s first liquid-fuel, rocket-powered guided missile. It was developed as an air-to-air weapon by the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) in World War II. With a range of 18 miles, the Gorgon II-A utilized a television guidance system to locate the target and was controlled by radio signals. Only 21 Gorgon II-A's were built and flight tested during 1945-1946. This is one of the few surviving examples.

The Gorgon was also one of America's first attempts to use television in guided missiles for target tracking although the TV transmissions were weak. The missile's rocket motor produced 350 pounds of thrust. The program was cancelled in 1946. This missile was donated to the Smithsonian in 1951 by the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Rockets & Missiles at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Rockets & Missiles
Object Details
Date ca. 1943-1946 Country of Origin United States of America Type CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets Manufacturer Singer Manufacturing Company
 Dimensions Overall: 1 ft. 2 1/2 in. long x 11 in. span, 480 lb. (36.83 x 27.94cm, 217.7kg)
 Materials Overall, made of laminated wood; fins, also wood, but moveable control surfaces aluminum; gyro, steel; carbon dioxide cylinder, steel; motor, mostly stainless steel; nuts on same, steel; blue pipe fittings on motor, anodized aluminum; nose, wood, but dome, plastic painted over in yellow to match body; tail cone, aluminum; straps, for holding missile when formerly suspended, steel and fabric; propellant tank, overall, stainless steel; blue fittings on propellant tank, aluminum; reddish valve on propellant tank, brass; internals also contain electrical wires with clear plastic insulation; copper strip running throughout most of internal wall lengths inside fuselage.
 Alternate Name Gorgon IIA Missile Inventory Number A19510065000 Credit Line Transferred from U.S. Navy Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.