Object Details
Manufacturer
Reaction Motors Div., Thiokol Chemical Corp.
Summary
This is a vernier rocket motor for the Surveyor unmanned lunar landing probe, America's first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. It provided small bursts of thrust for mid-course trajectory correction maneuvers and attitude and velocity control before and during the landing. It produced 30-104 pounds of thrust. For protection from solar radiation, exposed surfaces were coated with very thin gold plate.
The Reaction Motors Division of the Thiokol Chemical Corporation developed the vernier which was first used operationally on Suveyor 1 that soft-landed on the Moon in 1966. Five Surveyors out of seven launched were successfully landed on the Moon up to 1968.
The motor was donated to the Smithsonian by the Jet Propulsion Lab in 1970.
Credit Line
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Date
ca. 1963-1968
Inventory Number
A19700233000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
PROPULSION-Rocket Engines
Materials
Steel
Plastic
Aluminum
Synthetic
Inorganics
Glass
Copper Alloy
Coating
Unknown Metal
Textile
Dimensions
3-D: 33.5 × 21.6 × 14cm, 2.9kg (1 ft. 1 3/16 in. × 8 1/2 in. × 5 1/2 in., 6.4lb.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19700233000