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Overall view of the center unit and the "extender tube" (including a low-fidelity Mercury spacecraft mockup).

The Redstones manufactured specifically for the Mercury-Redstone program had propellant tanks which were lengthened about 6 feet and had modified aft units.

When at the Michigan Space & Science Center, the Redstone was displayed as a Mercury-Redstone. Since the display started out as a standard Redstone missile and was displayed without the tactical missile's aft unit, it was necessary to add an "extender tube" to extend the missile's length to that of a Mercury-Redstone booster.