This is the H-1 liquid-fuel rocket engine built by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International, the first stage powerplant for the Saturn 1 and Saturn 1B launch vehicles that were precursors to the Saturn V that took men to the Moon in the Apollo program. Saturn 1 and Saturn 1B were each fitted with eight H-1 engines in their first stages.
The engine used RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen. The model shown here may be the second variation that produced 188,000 pounds of thrust. Saturn 1 first flew in 1961 while the last Saturn 1B was flown in 1975 for the low-Earth orbit Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. This engine was donated to the Smithsonian in 1970 by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.