By Eiffleman

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 techniques...

By SkySaac

Heavy Lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. First to use non-hypergolic liquid fuels. As of 2021 it is the 3rd most powerful launch vehicle.

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

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

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

By Eiffleman

NASA modified Army M113s used as armored rescue vehicles.

By Eiffleman

Transport for Apollo astronauts to launchpad. Modified Cortez motorhome.

By Eiffleman

Cancelled USAF program to develop a multipurpose spaceplane.

By Eiffleman

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

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

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-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.

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 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 Kaero, Mark Balderama, and Wolfram Broszies

The Aggregat 4 (A-4), later renamed the V-2 for Vengeance Weapon 2, was the world's first long range missile and the first to pass the Karman line reaching 'space'. Much of the development team went on to help develop rocket programs for both...