SpaceRace Logo



Previous pageNext page
 

AN ADVANCED ICBM

Atlas launch
120 k jpeg
NARA#: KKE 64112
The two-stage Titan ICBM became operational with the U.S. Strategic Air Command in 1962. It was deployed in "hardened" underground silos to protect it from attack. By 1965 an improved version, Titan II, was deployed; it was prefueled with storable propellants to reduce launch time.
110 k jpeg
SI#: 96-15333

Pointer A Titan engine is displayed in the Museum's Rocketry and Spaceflight gallery.

PointerThe first object to survive a round trip into space--the nose cone of a Jupiter-C rocket--is displayed below near the base of the Minuteman III missile. 

JUPITER-C NOSE CONE

This Jupiter-C nose cone became the first man-made object to survive a round trip into space after its1,900-kilometer (1,200-mile) flight in August 1957. Unlike Sputnik, this object did not go into orbit, but its return intact demonstrated that American engineers had solved the re-entry problem. With its blunt shape and protective surface coating, the nose cone survived the heat and friction of descent through the atmosphere. Its successful re-entry paved the way for using rockets to deliver weapons at long ranges and to send humans into space.

Manufacturer: General Electric and U.S. Army

Ike with Jupiter-C nose cone
52 k jpeg


Technological Innovations Previous page Next page Minuteman
Space Race > Military Origins > Innovations > 1-2-3-4 >> Racing to the Moon


Space Race Home
Introduction | Military Origins | Racing To the Moon | Satellite Reconnaissance | Permanent Presence | Illustrations