This is a full-scale reproduction of the Jupiter-C launch vehicle with a model of the Explorer I satellite on the top. The Jupiter-C launched Explorer I on 31 January 1958 as the U.S.'s first artificial satellite. The Jupiter-C was a modified version of the Army's 200-mile range Redstone liquid-fuel ballistic missile with added solid-fuel upper stages plus the satellite. The Explorer 1 instruments recorded cosmic rays, micrometeorites, temperatures, and radiations. This rocket was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1980 from the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.