Named in honor of the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama where it was developed, the SSM-A-14 Redstone was the first large ballistic missile in the U.S. inventory. Designed by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under the leadership of the brilliant Wernher von Braun, Redstone was a direct descendant of the A-4 / V-2 rocket produced in Nazi Germany. Design work on the missile was finished in 1952. It incorporated many innovations including inertial guidance and a separable warhead section that, by decreasing drag, increased the weapon's range. Steerable rudders and refractory carbon vanes mounted in the rocket engine's exhaust, ensured course control. Redstone first flew on August 20, 1953 although the result was inauspicious - it traveled a mere 4.5 miles. Test flights continued over the next five years, and many refinements were made to ensure reliability. The final production version had a range of just over 200 nautical miles, or 175 carrying a W-39 nuclear warhead. In August of 1958, a Redstone became the first American missile to participate in a nuclear test, detonating a 3.8 megaton warhead as part of Operation Hardtack. In the field however, the Redstone missile proved cumbersome to move into position and time consuming to activate. The process could require twenty support vehicles and eight hours of work. A minimum of fifteen minutes' fueling time - an eternity in a combat situation - was needed after receiving a launch order. The solid fueled Pershing missile, which replaced the Redstone in late 1964, overcame these shortcomings. While Redstone's role as a weapon system was brief, it had a major impact on America's early space program. In January of 1958, just four months before the U.S. Army activated the Redstone in Germany, a modified version designated Jupiter-C put Explorer, America's first satellite, into orbit. In 1961, the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle lifted Alan Shepard into space. Originally created in 1959 by prime contractor Chrysler Corporation, which built 101 of the 128 missiles produced, This is Redstone provides a detailed overview of this historic weapons system. It includes chapters about the missile's structure, operation, propulsion and propellant systems, ground support equipment, guidance and controls, firing site operations, and more.

Named in honor of the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama where it was developed, the SSM-A-14 Redstone was the first large ballistic missile in the U.S. inventory. Designed by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under the leadership of the brilliant Wernher von Braun, Redstone was a direct descendant of the A-4 / V-2 rocket produced in Nazi Germany. Design work on the missile was finished in 1952. It incorporated many innovations including inertial guidance and a separable warhead section that, by decreasing drag, increased the weapon's range. Steerable rudders and refractory carbon vanes mounted in the rocket engine's exhaust, ensured course control. Redstone first flew on August 20, 1953 although the result was inauspicious - it traveled a mere 4.5 miles. Test flights continued over the next five years, and many refinements were made to ensure reliability. The final production version had a range of just over 200 nautical miles, or 175 carrying a W-39 nuclear warhead. In August of 1958, a Redstone became the first American missile to participate in a nuclear test, detonating a 3.8 megaton warhead as part of Operation Hardtack. In the field however, the Redstone missile proved cumbersome to move into position and time consuming to activate. The process could require twenty support vehicles and eight hours of work. A minimum of fifteen minutes' fueling time - an eternity in a combat situation - was needed after receiving a launch order. The solid fueled Pershing missile, which replaced the Redstone in late 1964, overcame these shortcomings. While Redstone's role as a weapon system was brief, it had a major impact on America's early space program. In January of 1958, just four months before the U.S. Army activated the Redstone in Germany, a modified version designated Jupiter-C put Explorer, America's first satellite, into orbit. In 1961, the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle lifted Alan Shepard into space. Originally created in 1959 by prime contractor Chrysler Corporation, which built 101 of the 128 missiles produced, This is Redstone provides a detailed overview of this historic weapons system. It includes chapters about the missile's structure, operation, propulsion and propellant systems, ground support equipment, guidance and controls, firing site operations, and more.

"[Seize the high ground is a] narrative history of the Army's aerospace experience from the 1950s to the present. The focus is on ballistic missile defense, from the early NIKE-HERCULES missile program through the SAFEGUARD acquisition site allowed by the 1972 ABM Treaty to the more advanced 'Star Wars' concepts studies toward the end of the century. [What is] covered is not only the technological response to the threat but the organizational and tactical development of the commands and units responsible for the defense mission"--CMH website.

Here is Dr. Wernher von Braun’s incredible story – from his early years in Germany, where he gave birth to modern rocketry, to his arrival in the United States and his launching of the first American satellite, the first man on the moon and other stunning space exploration feats. “Every page of Wernher von Braun’s life is a monument to the drama of adventure. Few people have been fighting so hard and, indeed, very few have been subject to so much criticism, so much jealousy, so much defeat—yet, very few have lived to be honored and to harvest the fruits of so many wonderful victories as has this man.” Author Erik Bergaust has had the advantage of knowing von Braun as a friend, hunting and fishing companion, space business associate—and biographer—for more than twenty-five years. Thus, he has been able to present a dramatic portrait of an important personality and a 20th century hero.