Mercury-Redstone booster gallery

• Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) prelaunch activities
• Mercury-Redstone 3 prelaunch activities. The "cherry-picker" (officially known as the "mobile aerial tower") acted as an emergency escape mechanism for the astronaut before launch. Its cab would be positioned next to the capsule hatch during the period preceding the launch.
  Mercury-Redstone 3 prelaunch activities. The "cherry-picker" (officially known as the "mobile aerial tower") acted as an emergency escape mechanism for the astronaut before launch. Its cab would be positioned next to the capsule hatch during the period preceding the launch.
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  Astronaut escape testing with the cherry-picker.
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  Nighttime preparations for the launch.

• Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) launch on May 5, 1961
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  The booster ignites as its umbilical mast drops. The mist around the tail is formed by the frigid liquid oxygen entering the engine during ignition.
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  The mist cloud spreads as the engine's thrust builds up.
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  Freedom 7 lifts off. The engine's thrust has dissipated the mist. The exhaust plume is very pale because the engine burns ethyl alcohol fuel.
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  The cab of the yellow cherry-picker had been retracted just before launch.
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  Another angle.
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  The red service structure in this view ran on railroad tracks and was withdrawn to the edge of the pad before launch. Note the flames around the launch stand and the flame deflector beneath it.
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  "Shock diamonds" are visible in the exhaust plume. The umbilicals for the capsule and booster can be seen lying beside the launch stand.
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  Climbing into the heavens.
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• Mercury-Redstone 1: launching the escape rocket
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  Preparations to launch Mercury-Redstone 1. This mission, the first attempt to launch a Mercury-Redstone, failed on November 21, 1960 in a quite embarrassing fashion.
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  At 8:59 AM EST, the firing command is given and the booster starts to ignite, with a trail of mist at the tail.
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  Just moments later, while the booster umbilical is still falling toward the ground, the booster has risen only 4 inches from the pad before an electrical fault shuts down the engine. The booster has settled back onto the pad, still upright. The premature engine shutdown triggers the escape rocket to fire, but it leaves the capsule behind, still attached to the booster.

• Launches of Mercury-Redstone 2 and Mercury-Redstone Booster Development
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  Mercury-Redstone 2 launches at 11:54 AM EST on January 31, 1961, carrying the chimpanzee "Ham", the first higher primate to fly into space.
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  Flight Mercury-Redstone Booster Development (MR-BD) lifts off at 12:30 PM EST on March 24, 1961. This was a booster test flight with a dummy "boilerplate" capsule.
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  Another photo of the MR-BD launch. The truck in the foreground was there as a test. Manned Mercury-Redstone flights were supposed to have a "cherry-picker" vehicle near the rocket to be used as an emergency exit by the astronaut. The truck acted as a stand-in for the cherry-picker to find out whether the rocket blast might damage it.

• Mercury-Redstone boosters under construction
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  Technicians preparing Mercury-Redstone booster tail sections at Redstone Arsenal in 1959
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  Officials and astronauts in front of a Mercury-Redstone booster at Marshall Space Flight Center

• Mounting a Mercury capsule on a Mercury-Redstone booster prior to test firing at Marshall Space Flight Center's Redstone Test Stand
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• Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7)
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• Display exhibits
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• Technical drawings
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  Units and components of the Mercury-Redstone
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  Exploded view of Mercury-Redstone booster
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  Mercury-Redstone's Rocketdyne A-7 rocket engine

• Models
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