Apollo Artifacts

Apollo 7 flown "Paul Haney: Are you a Turtle Cue?" card

This is the cue card that Walt Cunningham held up during the Apollo 7 mission as a question for Paul Haney, NASA Public Affairs Officer and “Voice of Mission Control”.

The question refers to the Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles. Once inducted, a member must reply to the question, "Are you a turtle?" with "You bet your sweet ass I am". Otherwise, the member must buy the questioner a drink.

By showing the card, Haney was required to answer over an open microphone during the first Apollo telecast. Failure to answer obligated a Turtle Club member to buy drinks for all within hearing, presumably every Turtle club member watching the telecast.

The live exchange as captured by the in-flight recorder reads as follows:

CAPCOM radioed, "Just a minute, Wally. Let's see. Oh, it's a little message to Deke Slayton. A little bit closer Wally. Kind of looks like something about - 'Are you a, are you a--" Schirra acknowledged, "That's right." CAPCOM continued, "Looks like it says, 'Are you a turtle, Deke Slayton?"

Schirra confirmed, "That's right." Eisele added, "You get an A for reading today Jack." Swigert continued, "Here comes another one. Walt, oh, that-a-way, that's the way to turn it. It says, 'Paul Haney, are you a turtle" Cunningham radioed, "You'll get a gold star. Perfect score!" Swigert reported, "And there is no reply from Paul Haney there." Cunningham asked, "You mean he's speechless?"

A short while later, CAPCOM Cernan informed Schirra, "Wally, this is Gene. Deke just called in, and we've got your answer, and we've got it recorded for your return." Schirra acknowledged, "Roger. Real fine."

Shortly thereafter, Schirra asked CAPCOM Swigert, "Have you got Haney's answer yet?" Swigert replied, "No, Haney's isn't talking, Wally." Swigert then added, "Somebody tells me he isn't talking, but just buying." A pleased Schirra responded, "He is buying. Thank you very much. Very good."

The card hung for many years in the National Air and Space Museum and later at Paul Haney’s home.

My selfie with Neil Armstrong

At the Apollo 13 40th anniversary celebration at The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, I had an opportunity to meet and share a few words with “first man” Neil Armstrong.

I wanted to memorialize my meeting with a photo, but there was nobody near us to snap it. So like a teenager, I shot a “selfie”.

As his expression indicates, Neil thought the selfie approach was sort of funny. Despite being out of focus and not particularly flattering, I treasure this image.

It’s always an honor to meet veterans of the Apollo lunar program.

Peter Max Apollo 11 Moon Footprint art print

This rare limited-edition Peter Max poster measuring 19" x 12" was issued on the 30th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

It’s signed by both Peter Max and Buzz Aldrin. The image takes the iconic boot photo from Apollo 11 and showcases Peter Max's colorful cosmic 60's style.

My Apollo 13 40th anniversary photo

I attended the Apollo 13 40th anniversary celebration at The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

In this photo, I am with Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director from the Apollo 13 mission “Failure is not an option”, Fred Haise, Lunar Module pilot from Apollo 13, and Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander “Houston we have a problem”.

We are in front of the Apollo 13 spacecraft.

It’s always an honor to meet veterans of the Apollo lunar program.

Neil Armstrong tribute to Apollo 12

Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11 Commander) delivers a tribute at the Apollo 12 40th anniversary gala on November 7, 2009 at Kennedy Space Center.

I was sitting next to Apollo 12 LMP Alan Bean for the dinner so I had an ideal view.

Video is 7 minutes. I suggest letting it load before watching. Direct link to video here.

James Lovell and Fred Haise discuss what really happened on Apollo 13

Apollo 13 Commander James A. Lovell, Jr. and Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise, Jr. discuss their mission at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation event on November 6, 2009 at Kennedy Space Center. I was lucky to be sitting front row center.

The video is about 24 minutes and is edited from a 45-minute discussion. It is best to let the video partially load before watching. Video is better quality on Vimeo direct link here.

Some timeouts.

:00 – 11:00 What really happened on Apollo 13. Commander Lovell provides a very detailed discussion of the chain of events leading to the explosion.

11:00 – 16:00 Fred Haise describes where he was and whart he was doing during the explosion.

16:00 – 20:00 Haise discusses several inaccuracies in the movie Apollo 13.

20:00 – 21:30 Lovell describes his reaction when the crew learned that they were not going to be able to walk on the moon.

21:30 – 23:10 The crew discusses the use of a free return trajectory (vs. powered return).

23:10 – 24:00 Why the explosion happened at the perfect time.

Flown Apollo 9 Command Module flown cue card

This oddly shaped cue card fit snugly into a particular spot on the command module control panel. The cue card provides quick instructions for problems faced by the crew.

I really like this cue card because some of the issues it deals with – such as Oxygen, CO2, Glycol, and Cyro – uses instrument readouts found on Apollo Command Module Main Control Panel 2F, and an unflown example of a block 1 version of this panel is in my collection. The CM Panel 2F controls the Cryogenics and Environmental System controls and is positioned in front of the CM pilot and LM pilot.

In the photo below, taken prior to launch, you can see the Apollo 9 crew with their checklists and cue cards as they prepare for the mission.

Apollo 13 Lunar Module TD+2 Star Chart used in training

This 8-3/4" diameter star chart consists of a black star disc below and a semitransparent rotating disc. The rings on the outer disc signify what stars would be seen through the LM Optical Telescope at certain times during the stay on the moon.

Star charts like this were used on every lunar landing mission to orient the LM just prior to liftoff. The star chart is dated for a launch date of 11 April 1970 (Apollo 13), and was to be used in case the Lunar Module had to leave the moon's surface within 2 hours after landing (TD+2 means Touchdown + 2 Hours).

Each Lunar Module carried two similar star charts – this one for an immediate liftoff, and another for liftoff after the stars had precessed across the sky during their stay on the moon. This star chart was used in the Lunar Module Simulator during the training for Apollo 13.

My friend Larry McGlynn has written an excellent two-part overview of the star charts of Apollo. Links here: Part one and part two.

Apollo 13 CSM Launch Checklist used in training

This checklist containing more than 100 pages on 8 by 6 inch card stock was the personal training copy of Apollo 13 lunar module pilot Fred Haise.

This manual lists the events that occurred during the Saturn V launch and has specific steps to be carried out by the flight crew. Sections cover boost preps, launch trajectory, launch aborts, boost, orbit insertion and orbital check-outs, TLI preps, and booster (S-IV-B) separation. An emergency section printed on pink paper covers the MODE I to IV aborts. The last sections cover Earth re-entry procedures in the event that that the flight remained in Earth orbit and did not travel to the moon.

For space geeks like me, this checklist makes fascinating reading.

Apollo 13 flown launch abort cue card

This cue card was from the personal collection of Fred W. Haise, Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot.

The information that Haise supplied about the card reads:
"This cue card was carried around the moon on the flight of Apollo 13 during April 11 to 17, 1971. This card was positioned on the instrument panel with Velcro during the launch to be used in the event of a Mode III abort. This abort mode became available in the period of launch just before achieving the Abort-to-Orbit capability. On the cards are blanks to be filled in for a manually executed SPS retrograde maneuver such as Time Of Ignition (TIG), Burn Time (BT), Pitch attitude, Ground Elapsed Time (GET) to reach 300k feet altitude, Pitch attitude reaching .05G, and the time for Drogue parachute deployment. The burn was to change velocity by 6999.9 feet per second to assure an Atlantic splashdown short of the African continent. We did not have to use this card but did have to deal with a much more complicated abort case on Apollo 13."