Photos of Rockets

Thirteen Saturn V rockets flew between November, 1967 and May, 1973. Included were two unmanned test flights, ten manned Apollo missions, and the launch of Skylab.

There are three complete Saturn V rockets currently on display. They are located at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These rockets are composed of both flight-rated stages and test stages.

Saturn 5 at Huntsville

Saturn 5 on display at the United States Space and ROcket Center. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2008)

SI-C Stage

S-II Stage

S-IV Stage

Instrument Unit

Miscellaneous

Saturn 5 at Kennedy Space Center

Photos of the Saturn 5 on display at the Kennedy Space Center. (These 1024 x 768 images were taken by Kevin Reynolds in 2000)

Saturn 5 Replica

Photos of the full size Saturn 5 replica at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Kevin Reynolds in 2001)

Saturn 1 (Block 2)

The U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), under the direction of Wernher von Braun, began developing the Saturn I rocket in 1957. The unique first stage was composed of clustered tanks. This clustering of smaller tanks, rather than manufacturing larger tanks, allowed the use of tooling from the Redstone and Jupiter missile programs. The first stage (S-I) was manufactured by Chrysler and was powered by eight H-1 engines. The second stage (S-IV), was built by Douglas and was powered by six RL-10 engines.

Between 1961 and 1965, ten Saturn I rockets were launched. All were successful. The design later evolved into the Saturn IB rockets of the Apollo era.

Photos of the Saturn 1 (Block 2) at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)

Photos of the Saturn 1 (Block 2) at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Kevin Reynolds in 2001)

Saturn IB

Saturn IB on display at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-65. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2008)

Developed in the 1950’s, the Jupiter was designed as an intermediate range ballistic missile. The 2.67m diameter missile was powered by a single LR79 rocket motor. As a nuclear armed missile, the Jupiter was briefly deployed in Turkey and Italy during the early 1960’s. The Jupiter became the first stage for the Juno II satellite launcher.

Jupiter

Jupiter rocket at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)

Jupiter

Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) on display at the National Museum of the USAF. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2008)

Juno II

Developed by adding solid propelled upper stages to a Jupiter first stage, the Juno II rocket was used to launch several of America’s early satellite missions. Both Pioneer 3 and 4 (early moon probes) and Bioflight 1 (carrying a monkey) were launched on Juno II rockets.

Juno II rocket at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)

Based on German V-2 technology, the Redstone missile was the U. S. Army’s first medium range ballistic missile. Produced by Chrysler, the Redstone missile first flew in 1955. Production missiles were flying in 1956, with the first missiles reaching operational status in Germany during 1958. The Redstone had a short service life, being replaced by the Pershing missile by 1964. In total, Chrysler produces around 120 missiles.

Redstone missiles played an important role in the early years of the space race. Modified Redstone rocket technology flew as both Jupiter-C and Mercury-Redstone space launchers.

Redstone

Army Redstone Ballistic Missile at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)

Jupiter-C

The Jupiter-C first flew in 1956. The Jupiter-C was comprised of a Redstone first stage combined with several solid rocket motors serving as upper stages. On 31JAN1958, Juno 1 (A Jupiter-C with an added 4th stage) launched America’s first successful Earth orbiting satellite, Explorer 1.

Jupiter-C at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)

Mercury-Redstone

The first successful Mercury-Redstone rocket flew on 19DEC1960. The rocket was used to launch Mercury capsules on suborbital trajectories into space. On 5MAY1961, a Mercury-Redstone launched America’s first astronaut, Alan Sheppard, into space. On 21JUL1961, another Mercury-Redstone launched Virgil Gus Grissom into space.

Mercury-Redstone rocket at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)

Titan I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)

Titan I ICBM on display at the National Museum of the USAF. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2008)

Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)

Titan II ICBM on display at the National Museum of the USAF. Titan II rockets were also used to launch Gemini missions. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2008)

Thor Agena

Based on the Thor ballistic missile, the Thor Agena A was used to launch Corona spy satellites for the United States Air Force. The Thor launcher evolved into the Delta family of space launchers.

Thor Agena rocket at the National Museum of the USAF . (Photos taken by Richard Kruse in 2008.)

First flown in 1955, the Atlas was America's first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Although its career as a nuclear armed missile was short-lived, the Atlas evolved into one of Americas premier satellite launchers.

Perhaps the most famous payload launched on the shoulders of Atlas was the Friendship 7 spacecraft in 1962. It was aboard this capsule that John Glenn made his historic orbital flight.

Amongst the literally hundreds of military and civilian payloads placed in orbit with the Atlas, were several high-profile deep space probes. Among these were the Ranger and Surveyor probes to the Moon, and the Mariner probes to Mars, Venus, and Mercury.

Atlas Rocket on Transporter

Atlas rocket on transporter at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (These images were taken by Richard Kruse in 2007)