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

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 Eiffleman

First American manned space station launched 14 May, 1973. Originated as the Orbital Workshop then vastly upgraded to take advantage of remaining Saturn V rockets.

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

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...

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 Eiffleman

The Titan project also had a twin track linking the assembly buildings and launch pads; specially adapted EMD SW-8 switchers were used to move the rocket.

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 Kevin Huang

NASA trainer aircraft

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

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 Eiffleman

Titan IIIC modified to carry a boilerplate mockup of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory.

By Eiffleman

Launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Site of the Mercury-Redstone 3 flight, America's first manned space flight with Astronaut Alan Shepard. LEGO LC-5 model with 976 bricks

By Eiffleman

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

By Eiffleman

Derivative of the Thor-Delta rocket using the Thor DM-21 configuration with a Delta D second stage and an Altair solid rocket motor third stage. Launched the first geosynchronous satellite, Syncom-2.

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...