(July 24, 1950) A new chapter in space flight began in July 1950 with the launch of the first rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida: the Bumper 8. Shown above, Bumper 8 was an ambitious two-stage rocket program that topped a V-2 missile base with a WAC Corporal rocket. The upper stage was able to reach then-record altitudes of almost 400 kilometers, higher than even modern Space Shuttles fly today. Launched under the direction of the General Electric Company, Bumper 8 was used primarily for testing rocket systems and for research on the upper atmosphere . Bumper rockets carried small payloads that allowed them to measure attributes including air temperature and cosmic ray impacts. Seven years later, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I and Sputnik II, the first satellites into Earth orbit. In response, in 1958, the US created NASA.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: 66P-0631
Date: July 24, 1950
Tags: V2 rocket NASA space WWII bumper Aviation Aerospace Spaceflight National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL Mittelwerk A-4 Rocket A-4 Missile Vergeltungswaffe 2 V-2 Missile V-2 Rocket Douglas Aircraft Company General Electric GE Douglas Aircraft DAC Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory WAC WAC Corporal Bumper-WAC Cape Canaveral Rocket Launch General Electric RTV-G-4 Bumper General Electric RV-A-4 Bumper RTV-G-4 Bumper RV-A-4 Bumper RTV-G-4 RTV-A-4
Full Description: The first Hermes A-1 test rocket was fired at White Sand Proving Ground (WSPG). Hermes was a modified V-2 German rocket, utilizing the German aerodynamic configuration; however, internally it was a completely new design. Although it did not result in an operational vehicle, the information that was gathered in the process contributed directly to the development of the Redstone rocket.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: 9401909
Date: May 1, 1950
Tags: rocket NASA space Aviation Aerospace Spaceflight National Aeronautics and Space Administration Mittelwerk A-4 Rocket A-4 Missile Vergeltungswaffe 2 V-2 V-2 Missile V-2 Rocket General Electric GE United States Army US Army United States Army Ordnance Corps Army Ordnance Corps Ordnance Corps Project Hermes Hermes Hermes A-1 White Sands, New Mexico White Sands, NM White Sands White Sands Proving Ground WSPG
The first Redstone rocket was launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 20, 1953. Redstone was the first major rocket development program for United States by the Peenemuende group led by Dr. Wernher von Braun
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: MSFC-75-SA-4105-2C
Date: August 20, 1953
Tags: rocket NASA space Aviation Aerospace Spaceflight Manned Spaceflight National Aeronautics and Space Administration Chrysler Corporation Chrysler Redstone Missile Redstone Rocket Redstone PGM-11 Redstone PGM-11 Army Ballistic Missile Agency ABMA Rocket Launch Cape Canaveral
Description: Launching of the LJ6 Little Joe on October 4, 1959 took place at Wallops Island, Virginia. This was the first attempt to launch an instrumented capsule with a Little Joe booster. Only the LJ1A and the LJ6 used the space metal/chevron plates as heat reflector shields, as they kept shattering. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 77, by James Schultz **note - see L60-104 page 77 also.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: EL-1996-00068
Date: October 4, 1959
Tags: Aviation Aerospace Spaceflight Manned Spaceflight National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Project Mercury Mercury Project Mercury Mercury-Atlas MA McDonnell Aircraft McDonnell Aircraft Corporation Mercury Capsule Rocket North American Aviation NAA Little Joe Little Joe 6 LJ6 Wallops Island
Full Description: Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) launch with chimpanzee Ham aboard. Monkeys had been flown into space before, but Ham was the first higher primate to test a spacecraft. This was a test flight for the first U.S human flight in early May 1961.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: 61C-1012
Date: January 31, 1961
Tags: Aviation Aerospace Spaceflight National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Project Mercury Mercury Project Mercury Mercury-Redstone MR McDonnell Aircraft McDonnell Aircraft Corporation Mercury Capsule Rocket Chrysler Corporation Chrysler Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle Redstone Rocket Redstone Mercury-Redstone 2 MR-2 MRLV-5 Ham Ham the Chimpanzee Ham the Chimp Chimp Chimpanzee Launch Complex 5 LC-5 Rocket Launch