Shown here is one of a pair of 93-pound thrust reaction control engines (RCS) flown on the first Apollo Saturn IB test flight on February 26. 1966. The RCS controlled the yaw of the Apollo Command Module unmanned test spacecraft, which NASA successfully recovered from Earth orbit.
Built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Rockwell, the engines (designated SE-8-9) burned storable and hypergolic (self-igniting) propellants of monomethylene as the fuel and nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer. The Apollo RCS system consisted of two independent subsystems of six pairs of engines (12 in all) that operated in tandem. It operated successfully on all subsequent unmanned and manned Apollo missions.
Donated by the Space Division of North American Rockwell.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.