Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle
Mercury-Redstone was NASA's crew-rated, single-stage adaptation of the Redstone ballistic missile and the first U.S. crewed launch vehicle. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency and later Marshall Space Flight Center developed the launcher, while Chrysler was prime contractor for production and Rocketdyne supplied its A-7 engine. Six flight boosters supported qualification, the suborbital flight of chimpanzee Ham, and the first two U.S. human spaceflights from 1960 to 1961.
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Identity
- Aliases
- RedstoneMercury RedstoneMercury-Redstone Launch VehicleMRLV
- Family Name
- Mercury-Redstone
- Full Name
- Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle
- Status
- retired
- Type
- rocket
- Variant Name
- Mercury-Redstone
Details
- Description
- Mercury-Redstone was NASA's crew-rated, single-stage adaptation of the Redstone ballistic missile and the first U.S. crewed launch vehicle. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency and later Marshall Space Flight Center developed the launcher, while Chrysler was prime contractor for production and Rocketdyne supplied its A-7 engine. Six flight boosters supported qualification, the suborbital flight of chimpanzee Ham, and the first two U.S. human spaceflights from 1960 to 1961.
- Dimensions
- Diameter M
- 1.8
- Height M
- 17.98
- First Flight Year
- 1,960
- Last Flight Year
- 1,961
- Operator
- Parent Vehicle Family
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Nested value
- Rocket Specs
- Liftoff Mass Kg
- 29,931
- Reusability
- expendable
- Stages Count
- 1
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 13, 2026 at 10:15:48 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 29, 2026 at 15:39:20 UTC
- Image
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Other
- Search Name
- Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Redstone Mercury Redstone Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle MRLV