By Kevin Huang

First American orbital human-rated launch vehicle. Used to launch the Mercury capsule to low Earth orbit.

By Kevin Huang

Titan II missile derived launch vehicle used to launch twelve Gemini missions for NASA.

By Kevin Huang

First launch of the Mercury program. Launched a boilerplate Mercury capsule to test the ablative heat shield, afterbody heating, and reentry dynamics.

By Eiffleman

America's second manned launch vehicle and the first to reach orbit for the Mercury program. Manufactured by Convair and derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile making it a member of the Atlas family of rockets. Launched a total of four crewed Mercury spacecraft.

By Kaero

During the Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and Apollo 11 missions, Helicopter Sikorsky Sea King SH-3D with number 66 was the primary recovery vehicle which hoisted returning astronauts from the spacecraft command modules.

Successor to the Hubble Telescope, the JWST will enable a detailed astronomical and cosmological investigations. The 6.5 meter primary mirror will observe some of the most distant objects in the Universe.

by Kevin Huang

USAF expendable launch vehicle used from 1965 until 1982. First Titan family rocket to use large solid rocket motors. Intended for launch of the Dyna-Soar (cancelled) but primarily launched DoD payloads.

By Eiffleman

SpaceX partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Falcon 9. Consists of a strengthened Falcon 9 first stage center core and two Falcon 9 first stage strap-on boosters. As of 2021, Falcon Heavy had the highest payload capacity of operating rockets and the third highest of...

By Eiffleman

NASA vehicle used to quarantine astronauts returning from the first four Apollo lunar missions. An Airstream trailer was converted by Melpar, Inc. to house three crew, a physician, and an engineer.

By Eiffleman

Standardized Atlas plus Agena D used for a variety of NASA and Air Force programs, including Ranger, Mariner, Midas, and Gambit.

By Eiffleman

American rocket developed to test the Apollo spacecraft Launch Escape System and the Command Module parachute recovery system in abort mode. Smallest of the four launch vehicles used in the Apollo program.

By Eiffleman

Four stage rocket derived from the Jupiter-C sounding rocket. After the "Sputnik Crisis" and the failure of the Vanguard program, a Juno I rocket was used to launch America's first satellite, Explorer 1.

By Kevin Huang

Titan III configuration launched four times to test the Titan transtage and later incorporated as the core stage for the Titan IIIC.

By Eiffleman

Mobile launcher for the Little Joe II rocket.

By Eiffleman

Cancelled USAF program to develop a multipurpose spaceplane.

By Kaero, Mark Balderama, and Wolfram Broszies

The Aggregat 4 (A-4), later renamed the V-2 for Vengeance Weapon 2, was the world's first long range missile and the first to pass the Karman line reaching 'space'. Much of the development team went on to help develop rocket programs for both...