At the corner of Airport Road and Memorial Parkway in Huntsville, Alabama sits a little-known icon of the United States Space Program. While not as well known as its big brothers like the Redstone or the Saturn V (both on display at the US Space & Rocket center in Huntsville ), the Hermes Missile still played a vital role in the beginnings of the space program. The Hermes was part of a post WWII program that used German rocket technology to jump-start US rocket programs. Based on the German Wasserfall Missile, the Hermes was never fully operational but the lessons learned during the development were the seeds that started the US rocket programs that we know today.
The plaque by the missile reads : “First American-made guided missile put on public display. First showing was May 14, 1953 at Huntsville, home of the world’s largest rocket and guided missile research and development center, Redstone Arsenal.”
This image is a composite of three images. The first image was taken just before sunset while the missile was still illuminated by the sun. Once the sky was blue, I took a shot with the traffic turning left and a shot with the traffic turning right. All three images were then blended in Photoshop to achieve the final image.
