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.