By Eiffleman

America's second manned launch vehicle and the first to reach orbit for the Mercury program. Manufactured by Convair and derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile making it a member of the Atlas family of rockets. Launched a total of four crewed Mercury spacecraft.

By Eiffleman

American launch vehicle derived from the Titan II missile. Launched twelve Gemini program missions featuring the first flights with two astronauts.

By Kevin Huang

Titan III configuration launched four times to test the Titan transtage and later incorporated as the core stage for the Titan IIIC.

By Eiffleman

American rocket developed to test the Apollo spacecraft Launch Escape System and the Command Module parachute recovery system in abort mode. Smallest of the four launch vehicles used in the Apollo program.

By Kaero

During the Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and Apollo 11 missions, Helicopter Sikorsky Sea King SH-3D with number 66 was the primary recovery vehicle which hoisted returning astronauts from the spacecraft command modules.

By Eiffleman

Mobile launcher for the Little Joe II rocket.

By Eiffleman

Cancelled USAF program to develop a multipurpose spaceplane.

By Eiffleman

NASA vehicle used to quarantine astronauts returning from the first four Apollo lunar missions. An Airstream trailer was converted by Melpar, Inc. to house three crew, a physician, and an engineer.

By Joey Zinga

Modification of Kevin Huang's model First full scale prototype of the Atlas missile and progenitor of the Atlas family of rockets.

by Eiffleman

The Apollo Command Module was the crew and reentry capsule portion of the CSM. It housed crew accommodation, equipment bays, and the controls and displays for operating the Apollo spacecraft.

by Kevin Huang

USAF expendable launch vehicle used from 1965 until 1982. First Titan family rocket to use large solid rocket motors. Intended for launch of the Dyna-Soar (cancelled) but primarily launched DoD payloads.

By Eiffleman

SpaceX partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Falcon 9. Consists of a strengthened Falcon 9 first stage center core and two Falcon 9 first stage strap-on boosters. As of 2021, Falcon Heavy had the highest payload capacity of operating rockets and the third highest of...

Successor to the Hubble Telescope, the JWST will enable a detailed astronomical and cosmological investigations. The 6.5 meter primary mirror will observe some of the most distant objects in the Universe.

NASA launch vehicle used to test the Apollo program spacecraft and later to ferry astronauts to Skylab.

By Eiffleman

Four stage rocket derived from the Jupiter-C sounding rocket. After the "Sputnik Crisis" and the failure of the Vanguard program, a Juno I rocket was used to launch America's first satellite, Explorer 1.

By Kevin Huang

American manned spaceplane used for hypersonic research. Conducted tests for ballistic flight, winged reentry, and gliding recovery. The X-15 was intended to evolve to a manned orbital spacecraft until the urgent need for the Mercury and Gemini programs surfaced. Research from the X-15 eventually led to the...