Sixty years ago in 1958, the U.S. Army tested the first ablative heat shields by launching reentry vehicles with the same rocket that put the first U.S. satellite into orbit. In this week's Ask an Expert on Facebook Live, join space history curator Michael Neufeld as he discusses the Jupiter-C nosecone and its implications for bringing both nuclear warheads and people back through the atmosphere.

Tune in on our Facebook page. 

Every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. we will go live on the National Air and Space Museum Facebook page with an Ask an Expert talk. We’ll select a different aviation or space topic each week, and a Museum staff member will discuss the history, stories, or personalities related to a specific artifact or exhibition in the Museum. Tune in on Facebook Live each week to join the talk and ask our experts questions.