Cryostat, COBE Optical Assembly
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Object Details
- Manufacturer
- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center
- Summary
- This is an engineering model of the cryostat used on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft. The cover is partly sliced away to display the optical and electronic components within. These include two of the three instruments flown on COBE: the Far InfraRed Absolute Spectrometer (FIRAS) and the Diffuse InfraRed Background Experiment (DIRBE). The assembly was built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and transferred to NASM in 1996. It was displayed in many venues, including the 1988 International Astronomical Union meeting in Baltimore. Over the 10 months before the last of the liquid helium evaporated, the instruments on COBE sent back a wealth of data that helped support and elucidate the thermal hot Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe. It was transferred to NASM by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 1998.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration
- Inventory Number
- A19960298000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- INSTRUMENTS-Scientific
- Materials
- Aluminum, mixed metals, plastics and electronics and glass.
- Dimensions
- 3-D: 82.6 x 144.8cm (32 1/2 x 57 in.)
- Support (Stand): 1ft 5in. x 3ft 4in. x 3ft 4in. (43.2 x 101.6 x 101.6cm)
- Dimensions given in documentation:
- Diameter: 32.5 IN. ASSEMBLY
- Height: 57 IN. ASSEMBLY
- Length: 40 IN. STAND
- Width: 40 IN. STAND
- Height: 17 IN. STAND
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19960298000
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9b05fd42e-41df-44ec-aaa4-34e5993b6830
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