By Kevin Huang

First American orbital human-rated launch vehicle. Used to launch the Mercury capsule to low Earth orbit.

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...

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

By Eiffleman

America's first crewed suborbital launch vehicle. Member of the Redstone rocket family derived from the U.S. Army's Redstone missile and the Jupiter-C LV. Used for six suborbital Mercury flights carrying astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom.

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...

By Eiffleman

Four stage rocket derived from the Jupiter missile and using MGM-29 Sergeant solid rocket motors for the upper stages. Launched Pioneer 3 (failure) and Pioneer 4 which became the first American lunar probe.

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

NASA modified Army M113s used as armored rescue vehicles.

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

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

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.

By Eiffleman

Cancelled USAF program to develop a multipurpose spaceplane.

By Eiffleman

Seventh crewed Apollo mission aborted after the Oxygen tank of the Service Module exploded.

By Kevin Huang

NASA trainer aircraft

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

Titan II missile derived launch vehicle used to launch twelve Gemini missions for NASA.