A Mercury Redstone and a Mercury-Atlas.
Mercury-Atlas, also known as Atlas LV-3B, is an orbital rocket which was used from 1960 to 1963. It is known to launch America's first man to orbit. In Spaceflight Simulator, as of now, the rocket is in the Mercury-Atlas expansion pack.
Rocket[]
The Atlas rocket consisted of a large metal fuel tank that carried RP-1 and LOx for the XLR-89-5 and XLR-105-5 engines. Unlike traditional two stage rockets, the Atlas had a stage-and-a-half design, when which the two twin XLR-89-5 engines along with the separable engine base, would detach from the rest of the rocket, leaving the more efficient XLR-105-5 engine to complete the orbit insertion.
The Atlas utilizing the stage-and-a-half design.
Due to the risk of a catastrophic failure during accent or on the launch pad, a launch escape system (also used on the Redstone rocket) was installed to carry the crew module away from the failing rocket. This system utilized multiple wires that ran down the sides of the fuel and LOx tanks that, when severed, caused the LES to fire, pulling the crew to safety.
Trivia[]
- In real life, the rocket was derived from the SM-65D Atlas, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) would have delivered a nuclear payload on a suborbital trajectory. It was then developed as an expendable launch vehicle.