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.
Dimensions:
Overall: 799 3/16 in. long x 70 in. diameter (2029.97 x 177.8cm)
Type:
PROPULSION-Rocket Engines
Summary:
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.
Credit Line:
Transferred from NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center
