Object Details
- Manufacturer
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory
- Summary
- Launched by the U.S. Air Force in 1963, the West Ford satellite used a unique concept to test the new undertaking of communications from space. Once in space, a dispenser via a spring mechanism pushed a canister, packed with millions of tiny needles (dipoles), into orbit. The needles in the canister slowly separated and formed a ring around the Earth. Antennas on the ground bounced radio signals off the ring of needles to communicate.
- The museum's satellite is a prototype; this artifact is the housing for the dispenser mechanism.
- Transferred from the National Museum of American History to the Museum in 2004.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
- Inventory Number
- A20040113002
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Instruments & Payloads
- Materials
- Aluminum
- Paint
- Steel
- Copper Alloy
- Natural Fabric
- Plastic
- Teflon
- Gold Plating
- Phenolic Resin
- Cadmium Plating
- Dimensions
- Overall: 12.7 × 12.7 × 61cm, 8lb. (5 × 5 × 24 in., 3.6kg)
- Storage: 61 × 71.8 × 33.7cm (24 in. × 28 1/4 in. × 13 1/4 in.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A20040113002
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv94eb6a9c2-774c-492a-b57c-10f70d01511e
