Project Far Side was a series of six low-cost, all-solid-fuel, four-stage, balloon-launched sounding rockets, each launched from a carrier 200 foot (62 m) diameter balloon, and built and used in 1957. When each balloon reached its maximum altitude of about 100,000 feet (30,480 m), the rockets fired through the balloon.
Each Far Side rocket carried a scientific payload of three to five pounds (1.4-2.3 kg) of instruments for measuring cosmic rays, electromagnetic radiations, interplanetary gases, and other phenomena. The maximum altitude reached by the Far Side rockets may have been 4,000 miles (6,440 km). This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1965 by the Aeronutronics Division of the Ford Motor Co.
Display Status
This object is on display in Rockets & Missiles at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.
Object Details
Date
1957
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets
Manufacturer
Ford Motor Company, Aeronutronics Division
Dimensions
Other: 1 ft. 8 in. diameter x 23 ft. 12 in. tall (50.8 x 731.5cm)
Materials
Primarily aluminum, with some steel
Alternate Name
Far Side Sounding Rocket
Inventory Number
A19680013000
Credit Line
Gift of Ford Motor Company, Aeronutronics Division
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
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