This is a flight spare 32-level digitized grid spark chamber sensitive to gamma rays of energies above 35 mev. It was built for the SAS-B satellite, also known as SAS-2 or Explorer 48, the second spacecraft designed specifically to study gamma rays. The wire grid detector used for this satellite was the precursor for the one used on the highly sucessful EGRET instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. SAS-B provided the first full-sky gamma-ray map and identified the gamma-ray behavior of objects such as the Vela Pulsar. This flight spare was used for many years as a laboratory test device at the Goddard Space Flight Center and later at Wallops Island.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center transferred this object to the Museum in 1994.
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
INSTRUMENTS-Scientific
Manufacturer
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center
Dimensions
3-D: 134.6 × 114.3 × 127cm (53 × 45 × 50 in.)
Storage (Aluminum pallet and frame with fabric cover): 153.7 × 157.5 × 168.3cm, 309.4kg (60 1/2 × 62 × 66 1/4 in., 682lb.)
Materials
Steel, Cadmium Plating, Paint, Nylon, Plastic, Gold Plating, Stainless Fabric, Aluminum, Foam, Fiberglas, Wood, Rubber (Silicone)
Inventory Number
A19950159000
Credit Line
Transferred from NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center.
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.