Mercury Redstone

The Mercury Redstone was a Liquid Fueled Suborbital Rocket that carried the first Americans into Space. The First test flight of the rocket its self was in 1953 (Unmanned.) [1 ]

Originally the Redstone was a sub-orbital ballistic missile for the Army, then the Rocket was mostly used in Project Mercury, Using the Mercury capsules to send Americans into space. The First Unmanned test flight of the Mercury-Redstone configuration was on Nov. 21st, 1960, which failed when the rocket fired incorrectly, thus failing to takeoff.[1 ]

Info on the Mercury Redstone
This rocket was developed by von Braun and his fellow scientists from Peenemunde, it was designed using knowledge from the V-2 project as originally a surface to surface missile that could reach targets close by up to 200 miles away[1 ] It originally used a 75,000 pound thrust USAF cruise missile liquid fuel engine made by North American Aviation, which was later modified to produce 78,000 pounds of thrust.[2 ], [3 ] The propellant was stored in Aluminum fuel tanks, which were pressurized, designed by one of the scientists at Peenemunde. 4 fins with steerable rudders and thrust vectoring exhaust vanes were used to stabilize and steer the rocket.

During which the Redstone was converted for the Mercury Program the area where the warhead would be was replaced with the Mercury Capsule, with an escape tower for emergencies, additional things were added to make the rocket more stable and reliable.[4 ]

The Redstone's role in the Mercury Program
In 1958 after NASA started the Mercury Program the Redstones were converted to carry Mercury Capsules. They would be launched in sub-orbital trajectories, reaching space, before falling back to Earth and deploying the parachute. The first "manned" flight carried Ham the chimp to space and back safely. This flight tested the capsule's Life support equipment. The second and most famous flight put Alan Shepard into space making him the first American in space. The third and last flight was flown by Gus Grissom who would 6 years later, perish in the tragic Apollo 1 disaster. The Redstone was replaced by the more powerful Mercury Atlas which would send the Mercury capsules into orbit.[5 ]

Videos and Pictures
Alan Shepard Mercury Redstone Launch on YouTube