Satellite, Pegasus A, 1/20th scale model

This is a 1/20th scale model of the Pegasus A satellite, a spacecraft that consisted of a very large wing-like micro-meteoroid detector connected to a central instrument bus. It was placed in orbit on a Saturn (S-1 and S-IV stages) vehicle on 16 February 1965. Once in orbit, the 14-foot wide, 96-foot long array of detector panels was deployed by a combination of springs and a scissors jack-like linkage driven by electric motors. Operation of the array of flat plate capacitors constructed out of polyurethane foam core with an aluminum-mylar-copper laminated skin, was only partly successful. The spacecraft was still providing some data as late as 1980. Pegasus I was the first of two satellites designed to provide data on the intensity and direction of meteoroid bombardment in near-Earth orbit.

The model was transferred to NASM by NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center in May 1974.