Shown here is an ignitor, manufactured by the Thiokol Chemical Corporation, used to fire the solid-propellant retrorocket necessary to slow NASA's Surveyor spacecraft during descent to the surface of the moon.
NASA ran this program from 1966 to 1968 to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the moon. Five of the seven spacecraft launched aboard Atlas-Centaur rockets successfully landed on the lunar surface.
Donated by NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.