Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 1 1/8in. x 4in. (2.86 x 10.16cm)
Materials:
Brass, resin, stainless steel, electrical wire
This is the antenna connector 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, it transmitted and recorded 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. The manufacturer of this artifact is unknown. It was donated by the Air Force to NASM in 1959.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
