page_title: Redstone Test Stand
section_title: Mercury-Redstone, 1959–1960
hierarchical_section_title: Redstone Test Stand / Mercury-Redstone, 1959–1960
caption_attribution_description: English: Installation of a Mercury capsule on a Mercury-Redstone booster at the Redstone Test Stand. Assembled at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle was designed to place a manned space capsule into a sub-orbital flight.
context_page_description: 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 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 $25,000 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.
context_section_description: As the space race continued, the civilian space agency, NASA started on October 1, 1958 but the Army kept von Braun and the ABMA for another year and a half.  NASA's Project Mercury chose the "Old Reliable" Redstone, with its unmatched launch record, as America's first manned launch vehicle.  Nevertheless, the Army had to make improvements for manned missions.  The crew at the Interim Test Stand ran over 200 static firings to improve the Redstone propulsion system.  In addition, all eight Mercury-Redstone launch vehicles endured a full duration acceptance test at the interim stand.  On July 1, 1960, 4,670 people transferred from the ABMA to NASA forming the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).
  The first test flight, Mercury-Redstone 1, occurred on November 21, 1960.  After rising a few inches off the launch pad, electrical cables disconnecting in the wrong order caused the engine to shut down.  The launch vehicle sustained minor damage and was returned to MSFC.  Static fire testing on the Redstone Test Stand in February 1961 verified that repairs were successful.  The second test launch, Mercury-Redstone 1A, was successful on December 19, 1960.  On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham flew into space on Mercury-Redstone 2.  Another test flight, Mercury-Redstone BD, added to evaluate changes, confirmed the system was ready.
  Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American in space on May 5, 1961.  Mercury-Redstone 3 was a suborbital flight to an altitude of 115 miles and a range of 302 miles.  This flight demonstrated that man was capable of controlling a space vehicle during periods of weightlessness and high accelerations.  The last Mercury-Redstone flight, Mercury-Redstone 4,
  also a manned suborbital flight, carried Virgil I. Grissom to a peak altitude of 118 miles and safely landed him 303 miles downrange.  The Redstone Test Stand contributed to the success of the first two Americans to fly in space.
caption: Installation of a Mercury capsule on the Mercury-Redstone Test Booster (TB) for Full (110-116 sec) runs, May 1960
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