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

Full-scale replica of the Explorer VII spacecraft. The satellite was launched on October 13, 1959 atop a Juno II vehicle and successfully went into orbit. The spacecraft carried an array of instruments designed to study a broad range of radiation from the sun including X-rays, the intensity of cosmic rays and the field of charged particles in the ionosphere as well as micrometeorite impacts. It provided data from its instruments for 13 months, during the course of which it sent back readings acquired during a major solar flare. The object was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in August 1972 and was restored in 2005.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Space Science at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Space Science
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed Manufacturer U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Redstone Arsenal
 Dimensions Approximate: 2 ft. 6 in. diameter x 2 ft. 6 in. tall, 92 lb. (76.2 x 76.2cm, 41.7kg)
 Materials Metal shell, solar cells, electronics
 Alternate Name Explorer 7 Satellite (Replica) Inventory Number A19761109000 Credit Line Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.