Transponder, Reentry Capsule, Datasphere

This is the transponder used to send data to ground stations from the Datasphere, the first instrumented package to be recovered from space by the United States. Launched by a U.S. Air Force Thor ballistic missile on 13 June 1958 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, it transmitted and recorded information such as temperatures, pressures, and stresses critical to progress in the nation's spaceflight programs. The Datasphere reached an altitude of over 200 miles, reentered the atmosphere at more than 10,000 miles an hour, and was recovered intact in the South Atlantic. Made by the Ordco Division of Bermite, this transponder was donated by the Air Force.