This is a 1:48 scale model of the Mercury-Atlas, the launch vehicle for the four manned Project Mercury orbital flights in 1962-1963. Flight testing of the Air Force's liquid-fuel Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile began in 1957, and the following year the newly-created National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected the Atlas D version as one of the launch vehicles for the first manned spaceflight program, Project Mercury. After undergoing several modifications, the rocket was designated the Mercury-Atlas. This model was built by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, which transferred it to NASM in 1971.
Gift of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center