Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Developed jointly by General Electric and ACR Electronics, this camera was the first to provide pictures of the Earth's surface from outer space and the first to provide pictures of a launch vehicle falling away from a payload. On 12 May 1959, the camera was carried in a special capsule atop a Thor rocket from Cape Canaveral to an altitude of 350 miles and a distance of over 1,500 miles. Fifteen minutes after launch the capsule and camera were recovered after splashing down in the Atlantic. Operating at the slow speed of 5 frames per second, the camera provided 35 feet of 16 mm. motion picture film. It was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by General Electric in 1961.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Instruments & Payloads Manufacturer General Electric, Missile & Space Division
 Dimensions Overall: 2 1/2 in high x 6 in. wide x 10 in. deep (6.4 x 15.2 x 25.4cm)
 Materials Box: Magnesium
Film reel: Textilite
Gears, shafts etc: .aluminum, chrome steel
Lens collar:Teflon w/polyurethane foam for protection
 Inventory Number A19610143000 Credit Line Gift of the Missile and Space Division of the General Electric Company. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.