Building A Missile - Probably late 1950's

Originally classified as "Confidential", this color film tells the story about the Army's Michigan Missile Plant, operated by the Chrysler Corporation (and formerly called the WWII Naval Industrial Reserve Aircraft Plant, and Chrysler Jet Engine Plant) near Detroit. This is circa the mid 1950s to 1961, when the Jupiter Missile and Redstone were in production. Because the film shows an IBM 704 computer, produced in 1954, it is more likely mid to late 1950s.

Aerial shot of the gigantic Chrysler Jet Engine Plant. Front of the building - U.S. Army, Michigan Missile Plant, Detroit Ordnance District. Workers and engineers come to work. 1400 engineers sit at desks and design, work on plans. Three men discuss designs. Men look at the electrical design of a missile. Men at work in in technical panels. The PGM-19 Jupiter and Redstone PGM-11 missiles were built here (:07-2:08). People work with computers and a copy machine. Men work with giant computers inside the factory. A test is being conducted on the missile, smoke emanates from it. The front of the missile (looks like the PGM-11). A test missile is on a launchpad (2:09-3:58). Men and a female technician (2:15) work with mainframe type analog computers and look at gauges in the control room. At 2:34, an IBM 704 digital computer is shown. The IBM 704, introduced in 1954,was the first mass-produced computer with floating-point arithmetic hardware. Vertical testing facility (3:42) used to test impacts including of water pressure on the missile (for submarine launch). At (4:10), high pressure hull test facility is shown with pneumatic controls. A man turns knobs while others look at their machines (3:59-5:22). Jupiter and Redstone engines (5:00) on test stands. A test is set up inside a chamber. Computer paper is looked at. Men work on the inside of a missile. A group of people work on a missile. Another group work on the nosecone of a missile (8:23). A man works inside the missile. A stage is placed onto the missile. Men work on various parts of the missile (5:23-7:49). A device rotates. Two men work on the tip of a missile. A sign reads 'keep out.' Men help push out a missile on a cart. The missile is placed inside a simulator for final check-out and simulated flight (7:50-9:32). Men work in the control room. A man fixes a computer. Reel to reel tape for recording. Men look over design plans. A Redstone missile is shown, ready for delivery (9:33-10:30). End credits -- Confidential film (10:31-10:41).

The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-propellant rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR79-NA (model S-3D) rocket engine producing 667 kilonewtons (150,000 lbf) of thrust. It was armed with the 1.44 megatons of TNT (6.0 PJ) W49 nuclear warhead. The prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation.

Jupiter was originally designed by the US Army, which was looking for a highly accurate missile designed to strike high-value targets like bridges, railway yards, troop concentrations and the like. The US Navy also expressed an interest in the design as an SLBM but left the collaboration to work on their Polaris. Jupiter retained the short, squat shape intended to fit in naval submarines.

PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile, it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe.