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 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 is a rebuilt engineering prototype of the first Small Astronomy Satellite, or SAS - 1. SAS-1 was devoted exclusively to the study of non-solar x-rays in space. It was launched by an international team from a platform off the coast of Kenya on December 12, 1970. It was named Uhuru, meaning freedom in Swahili, to mark the fact that the date represented the 7th anniversary of Kenyan independence. Uhuru scanned the x-ray sky using two collimated x-ray telescopes pointing in opposite directions. In its three years of operation it mapped more than 200 x-ray sources and provided early evidence for the existence of black holes as well as a binary x-ray source. The components were originally operational except for the solar panels that are non-operational imitations. Transferred from NASA in 1976, the artifact was displayed in the "Satellites" Gallery from 1976 to 1982 and then in the "Stars" gallery from 1983 through 1997. It was restored in 1998 (one of the star sensors was dented while it was on 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 SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed Manufacturer American Science & Engineering, Incorporated
Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
 Dimensions Overall (excludes solar panels and antennae): 26 in. tall x 20 1/16 in. in. wide (66 x 51cm)
 Materials Metal partly covered with metallic foil.
 Inventory Number A19761823000 Credit Line Gift of Johns Hopkins University Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.