Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 8 x 7 x 4in. (20.3 x 17.78 x 10.2cm)
Storage: 1ft x 8in. x 3 3/4in. (30.48 x 20.32 x 9.53cm)
Materials:
Aluminum
Steel
Lead
Copper
Nickel Plating
Plastic
Rubber
Polyurethane
Paint
Adhesive
This is the tape recorder used in the Datasphere, the first instrumented package to be recovered from space by the United States. Launched by a U.S. Air Force Thor ballistic missile on 13 June 1958 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this recorder received and stored information such as temperatures, pressures, and stresses critical to progress in the nation's spaceflight programs. The Datasphere reached an altitude of over 200 miles, reentered the atmosphere at more than 10,000 miles an hour, and was recovered intact in the South Atlantic. Ampex made this recorder and the Air Force donated it to NASM in 1959,
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
