Satellite, Explorer 8 mock-up

This full-size mock-up of the Explorer 8 spacecraft is one of two specimens of this satellite in the collection. Explorer 8 was launched on November 3, 1960 atop a Juno II vehicle and successfully went into orbit. The spacecraft carried six specialized instruments designed to study the field of charged particles that surround the earth called the ionosphere. Explorer 8 continued to provide data until December 27, 1960. The mock-up was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in May 1974 by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where the flown version was built and operated.