This is a replacement "heat sink" heatshield for the Mercury-Redstone 2 capsule. The original was lost after recovery of the capsule from the ocean and this heatshield did not fly in space. The MR-2 capsule carried Ham, a chimpanzee, on a suborbital flight in January 1961. Heat sink heatshields absorbed the tremendous heat generated during the capsule's reentry and were used only during some early Mercury test flights before they were replaced by ablative heat shields.
McDonnell Aircraft made the heatshield and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration transferred it to the museum in 1968.
Credit Line:
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
