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 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 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

American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard (1882-1945) used this device between 1924 and 1928 in his experiments to determine the feasibility of ion propulsion for space travel. Ion engines, in which electrically charged particles of atoms are discharged, produce extremely high exhaust velocities. Experiments in space with ion propulsion first took place in 1964.

This ion collector may have been made by one of Goddard's graduate students, Louis M. Sleeper. According to 1964 observations made by Russell B. Hastings, who also helped Goddard on his experiments as a graduate student in physics at Clark, this tube was "probably a low pressure ion research device and an important object…." Mrs. Goddard gave this artifact to the Smithsonian in 1965 as part of a set of laboratory glassware from her husband's pioneering ion-propulsion experiments.

 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
Date ca. 1924-1928 Country of Origin United States of America Type PROPULSION-Miscellaneous Manufacturer Dr. Robert H. Goddard
 Dimensions Overall: 1ft 2 7/8in. x 4 1/8in. x 3/4in. (37.78 x 10.48 x 1.91cm)
 Materials Overall, glass; sealing wax on end of adjoining tube; two pairs of wires, possibly copper, inside lower tube with the four strands projecting from sealing wax; wooden dowel, possibly bamboo, inside upper tube; strip of a reddish material, possibly thin cardboard, also in this tube below dowel; shiny silver metal ring, possibly aluminum, inside bottom of top tube.
Glass, Copper, Wax, Cork, Aluminum, Wood, Cardboard, Natural Fabric
 Inventory Number A19650310000 Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Robert Goddard Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.