The Redstone Test Stand or Interim Test Stand was used to develop and test fire the
Redstone missile, Jupiter-C sounding rocket, Juno I launch vehicle and Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle. It was declared an Alabama Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1979[3] and a National Historic Landmark in 1985.[2] It is located at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama on the Redstone Arsenal, designated Building 4665. The Redstone missile was the first missile to detonate a nuclear weapon. Jupiter-C launched to test components for the Jupiter missile. Juno I put the first American satellite Explorer 1 into orbit. Mercury Redstone carried the first American astronaut Alan Shepard into space. The Redstone earned the name "Old Reliable" because of this facility and the improvements it made possible.[4]
The Interim Test Stand was built in 1953 by Dr. Wernher von Braun's team for a mere US$25,000 (equivalent to $284,701 in 2023) out of materials salvaged from the Redstone Arsenal.[5] In 1957 the permanent test facility called the Static Test Tower was finally finished, but the Army decided to continue operations at the Interim Test Stand rather than move.[6] From 1953 to 1961, 362 static rocket tests were conducted there, including 200 that led directly to improvements in the Redstone rocket for the Mercury manned flight program. Adapted over the years, it never experienced the growth in size and cost that typified test stands in general, remaining a testament to the engineering ingenuity of the rocket pioneers.[5]
^Cite error: The named reference nris was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference nhlsum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference nrhpinv2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference HAERtxt7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference HAERtxt1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference HAERtxt8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 17 Related for: Redstone Test Stand information
of those age 65 or over. Gallery of Redstone Arsenal images 1956: Redstone missile testing on Static TestStand 1957: Contaminated land and buildings...
Neutral Buoyancy Space Simulator Propulsion and Structural Test Facility RedstoneTestStand Saturn V Dynamic TestStand Saturn V Launch Vehicle The National Historic...
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Nickname of RMS Olympic Nickname of RedstoneTestStand This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title...
series of tests. Starting in 1952, Debus supervised the development and construction of rocket launch facilities at Cape Canaveral for the Redstone, Jupiter...
would be attached. The design envisaged eight rocket tanks similar to the Redstone stage strapped around a central larger tank derived from a Jupiter rocket...
procedures. Static teststands had been constructed at ABMA for the Redstone and Jupiter rockets. In 1961, the Jupiter stand was modified to test Saturn 1 and...
July 1959, NASA chose the Redstone missile as the basis for the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle to be used for suborbital test flights of the Project Mercury...
development team at Redstone Arsenal, resulting in the Redstone rocket, which was used for the first live nuclear ballistic missile tests conducted by the...
was canceled in 1958 when the Chrysler Corporation Missile Division's Redstone missile design (essentially an improved V-2) had caught up in development...
control of the Development Operations Division from the Army's Redstone Arsenal. The Redstone Arsenal was led by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Wernher...
SA-500D was the assembly of these components for dynamic testing. The Saturn V dynamic teststand with "electrodynamic shakers" provided a table capable...
engineering backgrounds, so they dealt with the Redstone Arsenal and Convair, who built the Redstone and Atlas boosters used by Project Mercury. The astronauts...
Missile Annex. Redstone, Jupiter, Pershing 1, Pershing 1a, Pershing II, Polaris, Thor, Atlas, Titan and Minuteman missiles were all tested from the site...
Rocketdyne H-1 rocket engines burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX). Eight Redstone tanks (four holding fuel and four holding LOX) were clustered around a...
installed at WSMR. 1962-03: Annual Service Practice was being conducted for Redstone missile crews. 1963-03: Site preparation began for the Multi-function Array...
Global Information
