PGM-11 Redstone - History

History

A product of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama under the leadership of Wernher von Braun, Redstone was designed as a surface-to-surface missile for the U.S. Army. It was named for the arsenal on April 8, 1952, which traced its name to the region's red rocks and soil. Chrysler was awarded the prime production contract and began missile and support equipment production in 1952 at the newly-renamed Michigan Ordnance Missile Plant in Warren, Michigan. The Navy-owned facility was previously known as the Naval Industrial Reserve Aircraft Plant used for jet engine production. Following the cancellation of a planned Navy jet engine program, the facility was made available to the Chrysler Corporation for missile production. Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation Company provided the rocket engines; Ford Instrument Company, division of Sperry Rand Corporation, produced the guidance and control systems; and Reynolds Metals Company fabricated fuselage assemblies as subcontractors to Chrysler. The first Redstone lifted off from LC-4A at Cape Canaveral on August 20, 1953. It flew for one minute and 20 seconds before suffering an engine failure and falling into the sea. Following this partial success, the second test was conducted on January 27, 1954, this time without a hitch as the missile flew 55 miles. The third Redstone flight on May 5 was a total loss as the engine cut off one second after launch, causing the rocket to fall back on the pad and explode. Subsequent tests were completely or partially successful and the Redstone was declared operational in 1955.

Redstone was capable of flights from 57.5 miles (92.5 km) to 201 miles (323 km). It consisted of a thrust unit for powered flight and a missile body for overall missile control and payload delivery on target. During powered flight, Redstone burned a fuel mixture of 25 percent water–75 percent ethyl alcohol with liquid oxygen (LOX) used as the oxidizer. The missile body consisted of an aft unit containing the instrument compartment, and the warhead unit containing the payload compartment and the radar fuze. The missile body was separated from the thrust unit 20 to 30 seconds after the termination of powered flight, as determined by the preset range to target. The body continued on a controlled ballistic trajectory to the target impact point. The thrust unit continued on its own uncontrolled ballistic trajectory, impacting short of the designated target. Redstone utilized a pre-programmed self-correcting fixed reference inertial guidance platform system for missile attitude and path control along a predetermined trajectory. The inertial guidance system was not dependent on any ground to missile links for missile control, and was therefore immune from any known external jamming techniques.

The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle was a derivation of the Redstone with a longer fuel tank and was used in May 1961 to launch Alan Shepard on his sub-orbital flight to become the second person and first American in space.