Instrument Unit (IU)

The USSRC formerly displayed an instrument unit in Space Hall. The IU appears to be one of the museum's original exhibits, as it appears in the earliest souvenir booklets that I've seen.

The IU was designed by Marshall Space Flight Center but manufactured by IBM in a facility in Huntsville. IBM veteran Luke Tally, who volunteers at the museum via the Emeritus Docents program, tells me that this particular IU is comparised of left-overs from the breadboard facility at Marshall.

The IU sat in the corner of Space Hall which served as the handicapped entrance; it was as close to the wall as the ramp allowed. This made it difficult to photograph the back side of it, and a spotlight was aimed at the front, compounding the difficulty.

Like the rest of the artifacts from Space Hall, the IU was eventually moved to the Davidson Center.