This is a lens from a stellar camera used from 1962-1972 onboard the U.S. Corona photoreconnaissance satellites. Stellar cameras took photographs of the stars and, in conjuction with photographs from the horizon cameras and the index camera, enabled photo interpreters to more easily determine the exact terrain being photographed by the main cameras. This unflown lens was manufactured by Goerz Optical and donated by Hughes Danbury Optical Systems to NASM in 1996.
This object is on display in James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.