Rockets to Scale

I had been wanting to compare the sizes of some of the various rockets that seem important to me. When I failed to find anything that satisfied me, I decided to create my own chart. I took images of the various rockets that interested me and tried to adjust them so that they matched one another on the same scale. I don’t think I was precise, but I do think I came close.

For those who might not recognize the DCX Delta Clipper, it flew a total of 12 times between August, 1993 and July 1996. It was built by McDonnal Douglas and was designed to test the possibility of creating a single stage to orbit rocket. It took off and landed vertically, just like today’s SpaceX Grasshopper. In fact, the DCX flew higher, further, and longer than Grasshopper, though obviously Grasshopper is considerably larger (39 feet tall for DCX versus 106 feet tall for the SpaceX Grasshopper).

Here is a video from The Learning Channel:

The sizes of the rockets shown above:

Space Shuttle – 184.2 feet tall

Falcon 9 – 180 feet tall

Falcon 9-R – 224 feet tall

Grasshopper – 106 feet tall

DCX Delta Clipper – 39 feet tall

Mercury Atlas – 94.3 feet tall

Gemini Titan II – 109 feet tall

Saturn V – 363 feet tall

Soyuz – 162.4 feet tall

Delta IV Heavy 203 feet tall