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 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 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

This wind-tunnel model was built, perhaps by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to test the aerodynamic characteristics of the one-astronaut Mercury capsule during the launch phase or during an emergency abort. It shows the spacecraft with its escape tower, used to pull the capsule away from the booster during an emergency.

Between 1961 and 1963, Mercury, the first U.S. human spaceflight program, sent two astronauts on sub-orbital trajectories, and put four astronauts into orbit. The escape tower was never used during a manned mission, but did function during test missions and on one failed Mercury-Atlas unmanned launch. In 1974 the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center transferred this wind-tunnel model to the Smithsonian.

 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 MODELS-Wind Tunnel Dimensions 3-D: 71.1 x 21.6cm (28 x 8 1/2 in.)
 Materials Steel
 Inventory Number A19940096000 Credit Line Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.