A good day for flying rockets. It was about 82 degrees, with a pretty stiff breeze. There was a couple of long recovery walks, due to the wind, and we had a few motor failures. As always, we still managed to have a good time flying rockets.
The Redstone rocket was a high-accuracy, liquid-propelled surface-to-surface ballistic missile developed by the U.S. Army under Dr. Wernher von Braun at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, serving as a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket. Originally designated Hermes C, it officially became the PGM-11 Redstone in 1952 and was named after the Redstone Arsenal where it was developed.
- Key Achievements: The Redstone family launched America’s first satellite (Explorer 1) on January 31, 1958, using the modified Jupiter-C configuration, and carried the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, on a suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961.
- Technical Specifications: The rocket stood approximately 69 feet (21 meters) tall with a diameter of 5.8 feet (1.8 meters), powered by a Rocketdyne A-7 engine burning liquid oxygen and ethanol to produce 75,000 to 78,000 pounds of thrust.
- Operational History: It entered U.S. Army service in June 1958 and was deployed in Europe during the Cold War to carry the W-39 nuclear warhead with a range of up to 200 miles (320 km); the military version was retired in 1964, with the program concluding in 1967.
- Type Tactical short-range ballistic missile / Launch vehicle
- Propellants Ethanol (75%) / Water (25%) and Liquid Oxygen
- Thrust ~75,000 lbf (333,617 N)
- Range 150–200 miles (240–320 km)
- First Launch August 20, 1953
- Last Launch December 1, 1965
- Variants Redstone TBM, Jupiter-C, Mercury-Redstone
The Redstone was nicknamed “Old Reliable” due to its versatility in performing diverse missions ranging from nuclear testing in Operation Hardtack to serving as the workhorse for America’s early space program. While the military missile was replaced by the solid-propellant Pershing in 1964, surplus Redstones were used by Australia to launch their first satellite, demonstrating the rocket’s enduring legacy.
Sources
- Study Guides “Redstone (Rocket Family)” https://studyguides.com/study-methods/overview/cmlf01tw8d33l01929n5cd4ah
- Wikipedia “PGM-11 Redstone” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGM-11_Redstone
- Wikipedia “Redstone (rocket family)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redstone_(rocket_family)
