Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is a full-scale reproduction of the Jupiter-C launch vehicle with a model of the Explorer I satellite on the top. The Jupiter-C launched Explorer I on 31 January 1958 as the U.S.'s first artificial satellite. The Jupiter-C was a modified version of the Army's 200-mile range Redstone liquid-fuel ballistic missile with added solid-fuel upper stages plus the satellite. The Explorer 1 instruments recorded cosmic rays, micrometeorites, temperatures, and radiations. This rocket was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1980 from the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Type PROPULSION-Rocket Engines Manufacturer Reynolds Metals Company
 Dimensions Overall: 799 3/16 in. long x 70 in. diameter (2029.97 x 177.8cm)
 Materials Body, mainly aluminum; some steel including rocket engine and launch stand; exhaust vanes, black carbon phenolic; fins, steel; discs on the backs of each of the four exhaust vanes, steel, and rusted.
 Inventory Number A19800165000 Credit Line Transferred from NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.