As a public health precaution, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and the Museum in DC are temporarily closed. See our COVID-19 message.
Corona Film Return Capsule
-
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
Corona Film Return Capsule
Bucket-shaped, gold-colored capsule and electronics, two black metal takeup spools; with metal cover and modified ring housed in black wooden case with black felt and clear plexiglas.
-
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
Corona Film Return Capsule
Bucket-shaped, gold-colored capsule and electronics, two black metal takeup spools; with metal cover and modified ring housed in black wooden case with black felt and clear plexiglas.
-
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
Corona Film Return Capsule
Bucket-shaped, gold-colored capsule and electronics, two black metal takeup spools; with metal cover and modified ring housed in black wooden case with black felt and clear plexiglas.
-
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
Corona Film Return Capsule
Bucket-shaped, gold-colored capsule and electronics, two black metal takeup spools; with metal cover and modified ring housed in black wooden case with black felt and clear plexiglas.
-
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
Corona Film Return Capsule
Bucket-shaped, gold-colored capsule and electronics, two black metal takeup spools; with metal cover and modified ring housed in black wooden case with black felt and clear plexiglas.
-
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
Corona Film Return Capsule
Bucket-shaped, gold-colored capsule and electronics, two black metal takeup spools; with metal cover and modified ring housed in black wooden case with black felt and clear plexiglas.
-
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.
-
Reentry Capsule, Film Return, Corona
-
Corona Film Return Capsule at the Udvar-Hazy Center
Developed by the U.S. Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency, Corona photoreconnaissance satellites were designed mainly to obtain images of the Soviet Union that manned aircraft could not.
Display Status:
This object is on display in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Collection Item Summary:
This is the second film return capsule recovered on May 25, 1972 from the last CORONA photoreconnaissance satellite mission. Developed by the U.S. Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency, the CORONA satellites were designed primarily to furnish imagery of the Soviet Union that manned aircraft could not provide for various reasons. The film in the cameras was reeled onto the spools in these capsules, the capsules separated from the rest of the satellite and reentered the atmosphere, and after the heat shield was jettisoned a parachute deployed that enabled an Air Force plane to gather in the capsule. From August 1960 to May 1972, there were more than 120 successful CORONA missions that provided invaluable intelligence on the Soviet Union and other nations. General Electric made this capsule, and the National Reconnaissance Office transferred it to NASM in 1995.