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 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

With a thrust of 25 tons, the V-2 engine was the first large liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world and powered the world’s first ballistic missile, the German V-2 of World War II. The combustion chamber was the engine’s heart. Here, its liquid oxygen and water alcohol propellants entered through 18 injectors on the top and burned at about 2,700 ºC (4,900 ºF).

After the war, both the United States and the Soviet Union copied the V-2 engine, and it greatly influenced the development of large liquid-fuel rocket engines around the world. The U.S. Army probably captured this artifact in central Germany in spring 1945. The Smithsonian later obtained it from the U.S. Air Force.

Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.

Object Details
Country of Origin Germany Type PROPULSION-Rocket Engines Manufacturer Linke-Hofmann Werke AG
Dimensions Overall: 6ft 2in. x 3ft 7in. (187.96 x 109.22cm)
Materials Overall, steel
Inventory Number A19730004000 Credit Line Transferred from the U.S. Air Force Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.