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c.1960s LOFTI II SATELLITE SHELL MODEL

Polished aluminum satellite model from the early 1960s. EXTREMELY RARE. This is the later and larger variant of the LOFT I Satellite engineering model currently on display at the National Air an Space Museum. A series of low frequency trans-Ionospheric (LOFTI) radio satellites were developed to study whether low frequency signals could be used for communications with submerged submarines. This model is 24 in diameter by 28" high. It has six solar array panels each 12" in diameter with clear acrylic covers. It comes with six facsimile prints of the solar cell array. Only the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum has anything else of consequence from this early Naval Research Lab LOFTI Satellite Program. This LOFTI II model is RARER THAN THE SPUTNIK ENGINEERING PROTOTYPES that have recently come out of Russia and is AMERICAN. Extraordinary condition. A chance for the buyer to have a model that is even nicer than the Smithsonian's!"

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