Nose Cone, Missile, Jupiter C

This is the first U.S. nose cone with an ablative heat shield to be recovered from space. The ablative covering, made of a ceramic material, was designed to protect it from the tremendous temperatures experienced during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency launched this nose cone atop a Jupiter-C rocket from Cape Canaveral on August 8, 1957. It reached an altitude of 435 kilometers (270 miles) and a temperature of 1,100 C (2,000 F). U.S. Navy ships recovered the nose cone more than 1,850 kilometers (1,150 miles) downrange. The nose cone was one-third the size of the actual reentry vehicle being developed for the Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missile. Its test flight was a key milestone in the development of reentry vehicles that could carry nuclear warheads to their targets. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency transferred it to NASM in 1958.

Jupiter-C Nose Cone