Part 2

In another experiment—the apparatus on display—electric spark discharges were used to add energy to a mixture of gases and water vapor contained in the device’s upper sphere. The lower sphere contained a solution of water and salts, a solution believed to resemble the slightly salty water of ancient seas. When heat and sparks were added to the gases and salty water, a number of complex organic molecules formed.

The results of these experiments supported the hypothesis that cosmic rays and other high-energy particles bombarding the primitive atmosphere could have been responsible for the origin of life on Earth.

The experimental devices were constructed and donated by Cyril Ponnamperuma and the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, University of Maryland.

Photomosaic Globe of Mars

This 1.2-meter (4-foot) diameter globe of Mars was assembled from photographs taken by _Mariner 9_, an unmanned spacecraft that orbited the planet from November 14, 1971, until October 27, 1972. This globe is the first such photomosaic ever made of a planet.

Launched on May 30, 1971, _Mariner 9_ succeeded in photographing the entire surface of the planet. In its 349 days of orbit around Mars, _Mariner 9_ circled the planet 698 times and took more than 7300 photographs.

In its highly elliptical orbit, _Mariner 9_ obtained a sequence of overlapping wide-angle photographs. These were processed by a computer to remove the known variations in _Mariner 9_ camera response and geometric distortions, as well as to enhance surface detail. The mosaic made from the processed photographs is a pictorial presentation of the Martian surface which shows ridges and craters in the dark regions and on the bright polar caps with equal clarity. Surface features are in correct relationship and perspective, with only a minimum of shading difference between individual photographs.

In assembling the photomosaic, each picture was taped in place on the globe. Then, the match of adjacent pictures was assessed to determine where to trim the edges so that sharp features would not be intersected. The edges of each print were feathered so that when the prints were glued into place, the lines between pieces were almost indistinguishable. The complete globe received a thin protective coating.

This globe and copies of it enable scientists to study the geology and morphology of Mars from a perspective never before possible.

The photomosaic globe was designed and assembled at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.

The Mars Globe is on loan from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Mariner 10

_Mariner 10_ returned closeup pictures of the cloud cover around Venus and of Mercury’s sunbaked surface. _Mariner 10_ was the first spacecraft to photograph Mercury, the innermost planet. The spacecraft’s instruments also measured particles, fields, and radiation from these planets.

_Mariner 10_ flew by Venus on February 5, 1974, after a three-month, 240-million-kilometer (150-million-mile) journey that took the Spacecraft halfway around the Sun. _Mariner 10_ swung around the planet, taking a variety of measurements and photographs of the clouds that obscure the planet’s face. Using the planet’s gravity to “bend” its flight path, _Mariner 10_ flew on toward encounter with Mercury.

On March 29, 1974. _Mariner_ sped across the night side of the little planet closest to the Sun. Only 703 kilometers (436 miles) above the rugged surface, _Mariner_’s cameras captured the first closeup views of the planet’s daylight hemisphere. The pictures show craters, scarps—cliffs nearly 3 kilometers (2 miles) high and stretching as far as 500 kilometers (300 miles) across the surface—basins, and hilly furrowed terrain.

After providing our first glimpse of Mercury’s surface, _Mariner_ raced on around the Sun and back out across Venus’ orbit. With some trajectory adjustments using on-board thrusters. _Mariner_ returned to within 48,000 kilometers (30,000 miles) of Mercury on September 21, 176 days after the first encounter, again returning pictures and data. _Mariner_’s orbit brought it back to the planet for a third pass in another 176 days. On-board propellant exhausted, the spacecraft continues its orbit of the Sun and innermost planet.

_Mariner 10_ is the first complex spacecraft designed to travel to the inner reaches of the solar system. At closest approach to the Sun, the spacecraft received five times as much light and heat as it did on leaving Earth. Thus the solar panels, which collect and convert solar radiation into electrical energy for the spacecraft’s instruments and controls, were designed to tilt more and more away from the sunlight as _Mariner_ approached the Sun.

_Mariner_ could transmit much more information to Earth than earlier flyby spacecraft. This higher data rate enabled the craft to send back more live pictures of the planets as it flew by them. Some information was stored on magnetic tape for later transmission. This capability permitted _Mariner_ to collect data when it was hidden from Earth behind a planet, and send the information when it emerged.

Prime contractor for _Mariner 10_ was Hughes Aircraft Company.

_Mariner 10_ is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

U.S.S. Enterprise

This studio model of an interstellar space ship was used in the filming of the science-fiction television series, “Star Trek.” Many of the series’ 78 episodes dealt speculatively with the problems and results of human contacts with extraterrestrial life forms and civilizations.

The model of U.S.S. _Enterprise_ was designed by Walter M. Jeffries and Gene Roddenberry.

The model is from Paramount Television, a division of Paramount Pictures.

Length 3.4 m. (11 ft., 3 in.) Diameter of disc 1.5 m. (5 ft.)

Goddard A-Series Rocket, 1935

Robert Hutchings Goddard, the American rocket pioneer, was one of the first to suggest the use of the rocket to gather scientific information from high altitudes. As seamen use sounding lines to measure the depth of unknown waters, so scientists use sounding rockets to investigate the nature of our atmosphere. As early as 1917, the Smithsonian Institution agreed to fund Dr. Goddard’s studies. In 1926, he built and flew the world’s first successful liquid-propellant rocket which rose to an altitude of 12.5 meters (41 feet) over a field in Massachusetts.

After the scientist received substantial grants from the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation, he established a facility near Roswell, New Mexico, where he built and tested a series of rockets and engines between 1930 and 1942.

A-Series rockets—one on exhibit—were flown during the summer of 1935, as part of Dr. Goddard’s program to develop methods of stabilizing his rockets in vertical flight. The principles he pioneered in this area were among his greatest contributions to the field of rocketry.

The greatest height reached by an A-Series rocket was about 2130 meters (7000 feet) and the greatest speed in flight was more than 1130 kilometers per hour (700 miles per hour).

The rocket on exhibit is from Robert H. Goddard.

Length 4.7 m. (15 ft., 6 in.) Diameter 15.2 cm. (6 in.) Fuel Gasoline Oxidizer Liquid oxygen Thrust about 90 kg. (200 lb.) Velocity 1130 km. (700 mi.) per hr. (+ or -) Altitude 2.3 km. (7600 ft.) (+ or -)

WAC Corporal

The WAC Corporal was the first successful American sounding rocket to reach significant altitude. The first WAC Corporal, launched in 1944 from White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico, reached a height of 71,600 meters (235,000 feet). The fin-stabilized rocket was powered by a liquid-propellant engine that burned a self-igniting fuel and oxidizer combination. Use of these propellants eliminated the need for an ignition system. By March 1946, these rockets had attained altitudes of over 72.4 kilometers (45 miles) with a booster. The WAC Corporal was later used as a second stage on a German V-2 rocket. This U.S. program, code-named “Bumper,” tested techniques for ignition and separation of stages at high altitudes.

The WAC Corporal was designed in 1944 by the staff of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.

The rocket on exhibit is from the California Institute of Technology.

Length 4.9 m. (16 ft., 2 in.) as exhibited Diameter 30.5 cm. (12 in.) Fuel Aniline-furfuryl alcohol Oxidizer Red-fuming nitric acid Thrust 680 kg. (1500 lb.) Velocity 4500 km. (2800 mi.) per hr. at burnout Altitude 72 km. (45 mi.) with a 11.3-kilogram (25-lb.) payload

Aerobee 150

The half-ton Aerobee could carry a 45.4-kilogram (100-pound) payload to an altitude of 120.6 kilometers (75 miles). For many years, the Aerobee was the standard American sounding rocket due to its reliability and relatively low cost. Several versions of the original Aerobee were produced. The Aerobee relied on a short-duration, solid-fuel booster for launching, after which the main-stage, liquid-propellant engine ignited.

On display at the NASM is an Aerobee 150, a more sophisticated version of the rocket. An Aerobee 150 can lift a 68.1-kilogram (150-pound) payload to an altitude of 274 kilometers (170 miles). Payloads consisted of a variety of scientific experiments.

The Aerobee concept originated early in 1946 when Dr. James Van Allen, then of the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, suggested that the Office of Naval Research contract for a rocket with these particular capabilities. The Aerojet General Corporation (then Aerojet, Inc.) was awarded the contract, with the Douglas Aircraft Corporation subcontracting for aerodynamic studies on the nose, fins, and tail cone, and for the final assembly of the rocket.

The Aerobee 150 is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center.

Farside

Farside was a four-stage rocket launched from a balloon as an extremely high-altitude research vehicle. Achieving heights estimated at 6400 kilometers (4000 miles). Farside’s instrument payload was intended to study cosmic rays, earth’s magnetic field, certain forms of electromagnetic radiation in space, the presence of interplanetary gases, and the nature of meteoric dust.

The 908-kilogram (2000-pound) Farside was lifted to an altitude of 30.5 kilometers (19 miles) by a polyethylene balloon. An aluminum structure suspended from the balloon carried the 7.3-meter (24-foot) rocket to launch altitude. Positioned vertically in its casing, Farside was fired directly through the balloon.

Six Farsides were launched by the United States in 1957 from Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific.

Farside’s first stage consisted of four solid-fuel Recruit rockets, manufactured by Thiokol Chemical Company. A single Recruit served as the second stage. Four Arrow II solid-fuel rockets by the Grand Central Rocket Company constituted the third stage. The final stage, a single Arrow II, carried the instrument payload provided by S. F. Singer of the University of Maryland.

Farside was developed by Aeronutronics Systems, Inc., for the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Development.

The rocket on exhibit is from the Aeronutronics Division, Ford Motor Company.

Length 7.3 m. (24 ft.) Propellants Solid Thrust First stage 68,220 kg. (150,400 lb.) Second stage 17,055 kg. (37,600 lb.) Third state 4120 kg. (9080 lb.) Fourth stage 1030 kg. (2270 lb.) Velocity 29,000 km./hr. (18,000 mi./hr.) Altitude 3220-6440 km. (2000-4000 mi.)

Nike-Cajun

The Nike-Cajun was used extensively during International Geophysical Year (1957-58) to perform a variety of research tasks. These included weather photography, studies of water-vapor distribution in the upper atmosphere, and magnetic soundings in the ionosphere.

For photographic studies, the instrument package separated from the nose cone at about 80 kilometers (50 miles) and then coasted to a peak altitude of about 120 kilometers (75 miles), during which time data was collected. Then parachutes opened, lowering the cameras for recovery. Other data was radioed to Earth.

The Cajun rocket was developed by the Pilotless Aircraft Division of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the University of Michigan. The solid-fuel engine was designed and manufactured by Thiokol Chemical Company. The Nike booster was also solid fuel.

The rocket on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Length 7.9 m. (26 ft.); Cajun, 4.1 m. (13.5 ft.) Diameter 41.9 cm. (16.5 in.) max; Cajun, 17.1 cm. (6.75 in.) Propellant Solid Thrust Sustainer, 4364 kg. (9620 lb.) Velocity 6760 km./ hr. (4200 mi./hr.) Altitude 161 km. (100 mi.) with a 23 kg. (50 lb.) instrument package; higher with a lighter payload

ARCAS

All-purpose Rocket for Collecting Atmospheric Sounding (ARCAS) gathers local meteorological data helpful to weather forecasters. Its 5.4-kilogram (12-pound) payload may include instruments which measure temperature, pressure, humidity, wind velocity and direction, and magnetic conditions. The single-stage ARCAS vehicle reaches an altitude of 64 kilometers (40 miles), propelled by a slow-burning solid-fuel engine which produces 141.4 kilograms (312 pounds) of thrust.

When the ARCAS is boosted by a Sparrow or Sidewinder missile engine, it can reach altitudes of 182,880 meters (600,000 feet).

The 32-kilogram (71-pound) ARCAS is far less expensive than the larger two-stage weather rockets it has replaced. It was developed and produced by the Atlantic Research Corporation.

The ARCAS is from the Atlantic Research Corporation.

Length 2.1 m. (7 ft.) Diameter 11.3 cm. (4.45 in.) Propellant Solid Thrust 159 kg. (350 lb.) Velocity 3590 km./hr. (2230 mi./hr.) Altitude 64 km. (40 mi.) with standard 5.4-kg. (12-lb.) payload; 91.7 km. (57 mi.) with a 2.3-kg. (5-lb.) instrument package

Cricket

The reusable Cricket, often called the “meteorologist’s handyman,” weighs only 2.5 kilograms (5½ pounds), 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) of which is propellant. Recovered by parachute after each flight, Cricket costs less than $10 to refuel.

The Cricket’s .34-kilogram (three-fourth pound) instrument package zooms to 975 meters (3200 feet) in only 12 seconds, gathering data on air temperature, pressure and wind direction.

One of the rocket’s most noteworthy features is that it uses “cold” propellants. Compressed carbon dioxide to which acetone is added is pumped into a storage tank in the rocket at a pressure of 56.3 kilograms per square centimeter (800 pounds per square inch). Release of the pressurized mixture gives Cricket its thrust. Cricket is fired from its launcher by a separate charge of carbon dioxide in order to preserve the rocket’s fuel for flight.

This rocket was developed by Texaco Experiment, Inc., for the U.S. Air Force’s Cambridge Research Laboratory.

The Cricket is from Texaco, Inc.

Length 1.2 m. (3 ft., 10 in.) Diameter 11 cm. (4 in.) Propellant Pressurized carbon dioxide and acetone Thrust 23 kg. max. (50 lb.) Velocity 168 m./sec. max. (550 ft./sec.) Altitude 975 m. (3200 ft.)

Viking 12

The Viking rocket family, numbering 14, grew out of the Navy’s efforts to develop an upper atmosphere research program. With enough time between launches to incorporate modifications suggested by experience with earlier Vikings, no two rockets of the series were exactly alike; however, there were two basic types of Vikings. The first seven rockets were taller, thinner, and had larger fins than those numbered 8-14; rockets in the second set were heavier, with fuel capacity greatly increased, and were designed either to go higher than the early Vikings or to carry heavier payloads to the same altitude.

Viking’s highest altitude was 254 kilometers (158 miles) following a launch from White Sands on May 24, 1954. Experiments flown on these rockets measured air temperature, density, pressure, and composition, as well as providing cosmic and solar radiation data.

One of the few failures in this program was Viking 8, the first rocket of the second set, which unexpectedly tore loose from the launch stand while being test-fired.

Viking was conceived at the Naval Research Laboratory, designed and produced by the Glenn L. Martin Company of Baltimore, Maryland, and powered by a liquid-propellant engine by Reaction Motors, Inc.

The rocket on exhibit is from the Hayden Planetarium and Martin Marietta Aerospace.

Length 13.7 m. (45 ft.) Diameter 1.1 m. (3 ft., 9 in.) Propellant Alcohol Oxidizer Liquid oxygen Thrust 9300 kg. (20,500 lb.) Velocity 6480 km. (4025 mi.) per hr. Altitude 193 km. (120 mi.) with a 402-kg. (887-lb.) payload

MOUSE

The concept of artificial earth satellites was a logical extension of existing sounding-rocket programs. The MOUSE, or Minimum Orbital Unmanned Satellite of Earth, was conceived in 1951 as the smallest possible orbital vehicle capable of performing scientific tasks. While the MOUSE was never built or flown, it demonstrated what could be accomplished by an orbiting vehicle of modest size and weight.

The MOUSE would have weighed 45.4 kilograms (100 pounds). It was designed to study cosmic rays, interplanetary dust, and solar ultraviolet and X rays, with the instruments attached to rods projecting from either end. The satellite was to be powered by solar cells.

MOUSE was conceived by Kenneth W. Gatland, Anthony Kunesch, and Alan Dixon of England. Dr. S. F. Singer of the University of Maryland designed the MOUSE and constructed the model on exhibit. The model displays some of the earliest solar cells produced by the Bell Telephone Laboratories.

The MOUSE is from S. F. Singer.

Agena-B

The Agena launch vehicle has been an integral part of both unmanned and manned space programs. Flown as an upper stage on Thor and Atlas boosters, Agena orbited an impressive roster of spacecraft including the Echo communications satellites, the Ranger and Lunar Orbiter Moon probes, and the Mariner vehicles that traveled to Venus and Mars.

As the target for docking experiments during Project Gemini, Agena made substantial contributions to the eventual success of the Apollo program. The vehicle earned the distinction of being the first to place a payload in polar orbit, and was also the first to achieve circular orbit. The Agena engine was the first which could be stopped and restarted in space.

The Agena launch vehicle was developed and manufactured by the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company for the United States Air Force.

Length 7.1 m. (23.25 ft.) Diameter 1.5 m. (5 ft.) Weight Empty 674 kg. (1484 lb.) Fuel Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine Oxidizer Inhibited red-fuming nitric acid Thrust 7260 kg. (16,000 lb.)

The Agena-B is from the United States Air Force and the Lockheed Missile and Space Company.

Science Satellites

The first artificial earth satellites were sometimes called “long-playing rockets” because they carried the same instruments and investigated the same problems as had the sounding rockets. The great advantage of the satellite was its ability to provide a continuous flow of information for long periods of time. The first science satellites were the forerunners of later vehicles that would demonstrate the direct benefits that satellites could offer to such varied fields as weather observation and communication.

The advent of the earth satellite provided scientists with a new and valuable research tool. Science satellites have been used for such tasks as solar and astronomical observations, biology experiments, or atmospheric investigation. Explorer 1 (launched January 31, 1958) and Vanguard 1 (launched March 17, 1958), the first American earth satellites, carried scientific payloads into space.

Project Vanguard’s important contributions to America’s space program were the creation of the minitrack tracking system, the first use of silicon solar cells for electric power in a satellite, as well as the discovery that Earth is not quite round. The Vanguard program drew to a close with the 1959 launch of Vanguard 3. This satellite studied variations in solar and x-ray radiation and the earth’s magnetosphere. It also determined air density in the upper atmosphere.

The mysteries of the near-earth space environment drew _Explorer 6_, launched August 7, 1959. _Explorer 6_ instruments measured radiation levels in the Van Allen radiation belts, mapped the earth’s magnetic field, counted micrometeorites, and studied the behavior of radio waves in space. In addition, _Explorer 6_ carried a scanning device which returned the first complete television cloud-cover picture of the earth’s surface.

_Explorer 10_, launched on board a Thor-Delta rocket on March 25, 1961, confirmed the existence of the solar wind—the stream of particles that carries the Sun’s magnetic field beyond the orbit of Earth. During the satellite’s planned 52 hours in orbit, it relayed information on the relationship between terrestrial and interplanetary magnetic fields and the solar wind.