Model, Telescope, Stratoscope II, 1:6
Object Details
- Manufacturer
- Perkin-Elmer Corporation
- Summary
- This is a highly detailed 1:6 scale model of Stratoscope II, a balloon-borne 36-inch reflecting telescope mounted in a 3.5-ton stabilized gondola that flew in the 1960s. The model includes four optical components: the primary mirror (a 6-inch mirror 1-inch thick, aluminized, as well as a Gregorian secondary mirror on a three-vane spider mount and a flat tertiary diagonal mirror that sends the light into the spectrograph sitting at right angle to the telescope. There is a smaller mirror in the spectrograph housing as well, a Cassegrain-type hole in its center to represent the way the light eventually reached the film cannister).
- Stratoscope II was a follow-on project to Stratoscope I, a 12-inch balloon-born telescope conceived by Princeton astrophysicist Martin Schwarzschild and flown several times in the late 1950s to photograph the sun. Stratoscope II flew about six times from 1963 to 1971, lofted by a Mylar balloon with a volume of over 5 million cubic feet. The instrument was designed to work in the photographic infrared, to study the molecular composition of planetary atmospheres, the atmospheres of red giant stars and to make high-resolution images of the nuclei of bright galaxies.
- This model was exhibited at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation donated the scale model to the collection in 1964.
- Alternate Name
- Perkin Stratoscope II Telescope model
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- Location
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
- Exhibit Station
- Space Science
- Credit Line
- Gift of the Perkin Elmer Corporation
- Data Source
- National Air and Space Museum
- Inventory Number
- A19650085000
- Type
- MODELS-Uncrewed Spacecraft & Parts
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Materials
- Painted aluminum, sheet metal, aluminized coating
- Dimensions
- Overall: 4 ft. 4 in. tall x 2 ft. 4 in. wide x 4 ft. 10 in. deep (132.1 x 71.1 x 147.3cm)
- Record ID
- nasm_A19650085000
One-sixth scale model of payload section of balloon-borne Stratoscope II, 36-inch reflecting telescope. L-shaped open spaceframe supporting telescope and spectrograph. Composition is primarily painted aluminum and sheet metal.
