As the space race continued, the civilian space agency, NASA started on October 1, 1958 but the Army kept von Braun and the ABMA for another year and a half.
 NASA's Project Mercury chose the "Old Reliable" Redstone, with its unmatched launch record, as America's first manned launch vehicle.
 Nevertheless, the Army had to make improvements for manned missions.
 The crew at the Interim Test Stand ran over 200 static firings to improve the Redstone propulsion system.
 In addition, all eight Mercury-Redstone launch vehicles endured a full duration acceptance test at the interim stand.
 On July 1, 1960, 4,670 people transferred from the ABMA to NASA forming the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

The first test flight, Mercury-Redstone 1, occurred on November 21, 1960.
 After rising a few inches off the launch pad, electrical cables disconnecting in the wrong order caused the engine to shut down.
 The launch vehicle sustained minor damage and was returned to MSFC.
 Static fire testing on the Redstone Test Stand in February 1961 verified that repairs were successful.
 The second test launch, Mercury-Redstone 1A, was successful on December 19, 1960.
 On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham flew into space on Mercury-Redstone 2.
 Another test flight, Mercury-Redstone BD, added to evaluate changes, confirmed the system was ready.

Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American in space on May 5, 1961.
 Mercury-Redstone 3 was a suborbital flight to an altitude of 115 miles and a range of 302 miles.
 This flight demonstrated that man was capable of controlling a space vehicle during periods of weightlessness and high accelerations.
 The last Mercury-Redstone flight, Mercury-Redstone 4,
also a manned suborbital flight, carried Virgil I. Grissom to a peak altitude of 118 miles and safely landed him 303 miles downrange.
 The Redstone Test Stand contributed to the success of the first two Americans to fly in space.
As the space race continued, the civilian space agency, NASA started on October 1, 1958 but the Army kept von Braun and the ABMA for another year and a half.  NASA's Project Mercury chose the "Old Reliable" Redstone, with its unmatched launch record, as America's first manned launch vehicle.  Nevertheless, the Army had to make improvements for manned missions.  The crew at the Interim Test Stand ran over 200 static firings to improve the Redstone propulsion system.  In addition, all eight Mercury-Redstone launch vehicles endured a full duration acceptance test at the interim stand.  On July 1, 1960, 4,670 people transferred from the ABMA to NASA forming the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).
The first test flight, Mercury-Redstone 1, occurred on November 21, 1960.  After rising a few inches off the launch pad, electrical cables disconnecting in the wrong order caused the engine to shut down.  The launch vehicle sustained minor damage and was returned to MSFC.  Static fire testing on the Redstone Test Stand in February 1961 verified that repairs were successful.  The second test launch, Mercury-Redstone 1A, was successful on December 19, 1960.  On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham flew into space on Mercury-Redstone 2.  Another test flight, Mercury-Redstone BD, added to evaluate changes, confirmed the system was ready.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American in space on May 5, 1961.  Mercury-Redstone 3 was a suborbital flight to an altitude of 115 miles and a range of 302 miles.  This flight demonstrated that man was capable of controlling a space vehicle during periods of weightlessness and high accelerations.  The last Mercury-Redstone flight, Mercury-Redstone 4,
also a manned suborbital flight, carried Virgil I. Grissom to a peak altitude of 118 miles and safely landed him 303 miles downrange.  The Redstone Test Stand contributed to the success of the first two Americans to fly in space.
Redstone Test Stand