This is a 1:48 scale model of the Mercury-Atlas, the launch vehicle for the four manned Project Mercury orbital flights in 1962-1963. Flight testing of the Air Force's liquid-fuel Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile began in 1957, and the following year the newly-created National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected the Atlas D version as one of the launch vehicles for the first manned spaceflight program, Project Mercury. After undergoing several modifications, the rocket was designated the Mercury-Atlas. This model was built by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, which transferred it to NASM in 1971.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.