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This is the original mounting cradle and associated transport and maneuvering assembly used to hold the flight primary mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope during the manufacturing and testing process. This cradle was specially designed to hold the heavy but fragile mirror when moved among different locations during the manufacturing process. A wheeled transporter was custom designed to allow the cradle-mounted mirror to be moved about and to rotate it in the vertical plane.

The assembly was manufactured by the Perkin Elmer Company. It was donated to NASM by NASA by Raytheon, the successor organization, in 2000. The cradle holds the backup Hubble Space Telescope Mirror. It was slightly modified for display.

 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 EQUIPMENT-Design, Manufacture, Test Manufacturer Perkin-Elmer Corporation
 Dimensions 3-D: 279.4 × 152.4 × 304.8cm (11.0 × 6.0 × 10 ft.)
Storage (A20010288001D&E): 64.8 × 64.8 × 41.6cm (25 1/2 × 25 1/2 × 16 3/8 in.)
 Materials Iron, Stainless Steel
A20010288001D: Steel, Copper Alloy, Cadmium Plating, Stainless Steel, Adhesive, Foil, Paint, Plastic, Ink
A20010288001E: Steel
 Inventory Number A20010288001 Credit Line Transferred from the Raytheon Company through 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.