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The sign accompanying the engine. It reads

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Rocketdyne A-6 Engine

The Rocketdyne A-6 engine was a direct out-growth of the engine use in the World War II vintage V-2 missile. Many German engineers from Peenemünde were involved in its design.

The A-6 was originally created for an Air Force missile called "Navaho," but was selected by Wernher von Braun for the Redstone missile which his team was developing for the Army. Over 120 Redstones were built, but more importantly, it would serve as the launch vehicle for astronaut Alan Shepard on his flight into space in May, 1961.

The A-6 engine produced 82,595 pounds of thrust and, like the V-2 engine, burned alcohol and liquid oxygen for fuel. It featured regenerative cooling and with the Redstone's fuel supply, would burn for 155 seconds.

This A-6 engine is in an "as removed" condition, and on loan from the National Air & Space Museum.

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This engine is actually an A-7, not an A-6; see my page on the Redstone A-6 and A-7 engines for additional information. The A-7 is actually an offshoot of the Navaho engine, rather than the same engine; see an example of a Navaho engine.

The engine as used in the Redstone missile and during Project Mercury provided only 75,000 lbs of thrust (approximately 78,000 when thrust from the steam generator exhaust is added). The engine had a run time of 110 to 121 seconds (depending upon the source of the information) in the missile and 143.5 seconds for its service in Project Mercury.

When used in the Juno I and Jupiter-C launch vehicles (used to launch satellites and test scale models of the Jupiter reentry nose cone), the engine was run on an improved fuel, called Hydyne, which provided an increased thrust of approximately 83,000 lbs and had a run time of 155 seconds.