Display Status:
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Collection Item Summary:
This is a 1:25 scale model of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Mercury-Atlas rocket. Flight testing of the Air Force's liquid-fuel Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile began in 1957, and the following year the newly-created NASA selected the Atlas D version as one of the launch vehicles for the first manned spaceflight program, Project Mercury. After undergoing several modifications by NASA, the rocket was designated the Mercury-Atlas. A modified Army Redstone medium-range ballistic missile (Mercury-Redstone) served as the launch vehicle in the two manned Mercury suborbital flights in 1961, while the Mercury-Atlas was the launch vehicle for the four manned Mercury orbital flights in 1962-1963.
The manufacturer of the model is unknown. NASA transferred it to the museum.
Collection Item Long Description:
Data Source
Restrictions & Rights
Manufacturer
Credit Line
Materials
- Wood
- Paint
- Steel
- Aluminum
- Plastic
- Adhesive
- Ink
Dimensions
- Overall: 3ft 4in. x 8in. (101.6 x 20.32cm)
- 3-D (Body): 87 × 19.7 × 15.2cm (34 1/4 × 7 3/4 × 6 in.)
- Storage: 100.6 × 26 × 27cm (39 5/8 × 10 1/4 × 10 5/8 in.)