Date: ca. 1955-1970
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 30 ft. long x 1 ft. 3 in. diameter (914.4 x 38.1cm)
Materials:
Overall, aluminum with some steel
This is the Aerobee 150 sounding rocket that was capable of reaching an altitude of about 170 miles (270 km) with a payload of 150 pounds (70 kg) of scientific instruments. The rocket consisted of a solid-fuel booster and a liquid-fuel sustainer stage.
The atmospheric, and sometimes astronomical experiments, were performed during the few minutes when the rocket reached its peak altitude. The data was automatically relayed back to a ground station by radio transmission. This rocket was donated to the Smithsonian in 1976 by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
