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

This is a replica of Ariel-1 satellite, the world's first internationally conceived and executed satellite. The flight model was designed and built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and carried six British experiments designed to study the ionosphere and its relationship to solar radiation, including cosmic ray, solar emission and ionospheric experiments. This first in a series of five satellites was launched on a Thor Delta rocket on April 26, 1962. Ariel-1 provided data from launch until September 1962 and sporadically after that until it was turned off in November 1964. The artifact was rebuilt from original parts by technicians at GSFC and transferred from NASA in 1975.

 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 NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center
 Dimensions Overall: 1 ft. 8 in. tall x 1 ft. 11 in. wide, 85 lb. (50.8 x 58.42cm, 38.6kg)
 Materials Basic structural material is epoxy-bonded fiberglas, aluminum and other light metals and plastics. The cylinder was constructed from wound monofilament and the domes built from fibers cross-woven into cloth; epoxy shell attached to internal aluminum structures which provide mounting surfaces for instruments.
 Alternate Name Ariel 1 Satellite Inventory Number A19751410000 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.