Redstone Test Stand
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 and a National Historic Landmark in 1985. 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. The Interim Test Stand was built in 1953 by Dr. Wernher von Braun's team for a mere out of materials salvaged from the Redstone Arsenal. 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. 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. Background Liquid-propellant rocket development has always proceeded in three steps: Engine testing Static rocket testing Test launches. First, prototype engines are tested in a Rocket engine test facility, where the most promising designs are refined during a period of extensive testing. After an engine has been proven, the complete rocket is assembled. In this second step, the rocket is anchored to a static test stand. With the rocket held down, engineers run the engine at full power and refine the system. The test launch is third, when the missile is fired into the sky. Wernher von Braun and his team used this process to develop the V-2 or A4 missile in Germany during WWII. Von Braun and members of his team decided to surrender to the United States military to ensure they were not captured by the advancing Soviets or shot by the Nazis to prevent their capture. They came to the United States via Operation Paperclip. The Army first assigned the Germans to teach German missile technology, assist with the launching of captured V-2's, and continue rocket research as part of the Hermes project at Fort Bliss, Texas and White Sands Proving Grounds On April 15, 1950, the Army consolidated their far-flung guided missile and rocket research and development efforts into the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC) at Redstone Arsenal. The Army bought the former WWII munitions facility from the Army Chemical Corps. That summer and fall, members of the German rocket team moved from Fort Bliss to Huntsville. They conducted a preliminary study for proposed range missiles