Apollo Artifacts

Lunar Module Computer Table Used in the LM Mission Simulator

This Apollo Navigational Computer Information Table was originally installed in the Apollo Lunar Module Mission Simulator located at Johnson Space Center in Houston. At the close of the Apollo program, the desk was purchased by a JSC engineer.

The table was attached below panel 6 of the LMP's control panels and can be folded away when not in use. The table serves as an all-purpose desk as well as a useful reference source with data for star list, selector logic, input and output.  It’s made of aluminum and measures 14 inches by 6 inches.

A desk just like this one is prominent in an Apollo 11 photo montage of Buzz Aldrin inside the LM Eagle on the surface of the moon. The LM Computer table is on the right.

Marquardt R-4D Apollo spacecraft attitude control engine

The Marquardt R-4D was developed as an attitude control thruster for the Apollo Service Module and Lunar Module.

Sixteen engines similar to this one were mounted on the exterior of each lunar module in four quadruple clusters and sixteen on each service module. Because both the lunar module and service module were jettisoned during the Apollo missions, no flown examples exist.

The Marquardt Corporation was awarded the contract to build the reaction-control rocket engines for the Apollo spacecraft in 1963. They were first flown in the unmanned Apollo-Saturn 201 test flight launched in February 1966. Designed for maneuvering in space, this was a bipropellant engine using hypergolic nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine as propellants, generating 100+ pounds of thrust.

The Marquardt R-4D was used in other applications including the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) which was cancelled. My engine was likely for that program.

The combustion chamber and nozzle are radiation cooled disilicide coated molybdenum to an expansion ration of 6.8 at which point a light-weight, thin-walled L-605 super alloy (Columbium alloy formally known as Nobium) expansion bell is attached which expands to a 40:1 area ratio.

Apollo use Characteristics:
Engine: 3.63 kg (8.00 lb). Chamber Pressure: 6.93 bar. Area Ratio: 164. Thrust to Weight Ratio: 13.7366869592086. Oxidizer to Fuel Ratio: 1.65. Coefficient of Thrust vacuum: 1.88806724749259.
Unfuelled mass: 3.63 kg (8.00 lb).
Height: 0.55 m (1.82 ft).
Diameter: 0.28 m (0.92 ft).
Thrust: 490 N (110 lbf).
Specific impulse: 312 s.

Apollo 10 Lunar Module flown right angle camera bracket

This bracket was carried to the moon and used aboard the Lunar Module Snoopy during the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969.

The L Bracket was the connection between the 16mm Maura Data Acquisition Camera and the LM Utility bracket. The bracket attached directly to the camera and the LM Utility (which could hold either the DAC or the spot lights) then clamped onto a bar in front of the LM window.

This Apollo 10 bracket was used with the first camera to film the approach to the Apollo 11 landing site to 50,000 feet. The prior photographs were all taken from 50 miles in altitude.

The photo of the L bracket and 16mm DAC camera in the window of the LM is from the Apollo 11 photo AS11-36-5389H.

Apollo 16 LM Rendezvous Charts used in simulator training

An original 8½"x 10½" Apollo 16 LM Rendezvous Charts book dated in pencil March 21, 1971.

It contains 20 pages of fascinating Lunar Module Ascent tables. Sections include Nominal Ascent sections, Direct Ascent sections and First and Second Midcourse corrections sections.

A copy just like it would have flown to the moon on Apollo 16.

This set of charts was the simulator copy and used in training by Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charlie Duke in the Lunar Module Simulator. Notes made by Young and Duke in pencil are visible on several pages. Used extensively at the time, but still good shape.

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 Spacecraft News Reference for Lunar Module and Command Module

These Apollo News Reference Manuals were used by journalists who covered the Apollo program. It took me four years to acquire a pair as these manuals have become highly sought after. The pair include almost 500 pages of in depth detail about the Apollo spacecraft in the words of the contractors who built them.

Chapters include: Crew Systems, Displays and Controls, Docking, Earth Landing, Electrical Power, Environmental Control, Launch Escape, Reaction Control, Service Propulsion, Stabilization & Control, Telecommunications, Guidance & Navigation, Space Suit, Automatic Checkout Equipment, Kennedy Space Center Operations, Training Equipment, Test & Reliability, Manufacturing, Launch Vehicles, Mission Description, Crew Personal Equipment, Propulsion, Electrical Power, Lighting, PLSS, LM Anatomy, Biographies and more.

Grumman Lunar Module contractors model

Model BEFORE (see below for after)

I purchased a beat-up Grumman LM contractors model on eBay. I had always wanted one and watched for a few months before the right one became available.

Fortunately, Andy Lagomarsino agreed to work on the model and bring it up to pristine condition.

Learn more about what Andy does to restore these models.

When I sent him the model, Andy noted that it needed:

A good cleaning

The base needed to be polished up

Ascent stage was missing one of the two vhf wire coil antennas.

Missing about half of the 16 RCS jets.

Missing both the S-band and rendevous radar dishes.

The flag decal on the descent stage was badly deteriorated.

All of the color on the navigation lights appeared faded and needed to be retouched.

Numerous areas on the black shaded portions of the descent stage needed to be recolored

The legs were bent

(Shall I go on?)

Now it looks terrific. (Thanks Andy.)

The model now sits under a custom plexiglas cover as a showcase of my Apollo Artifact collection.

Andy is the foremost expert and restoration specialist on the Lunar Module contractor model and does amazing work. I highly recommend him if you need your model spruced up.

Apollo Lunar Module support truss

This is a support truss from the lunar module.

It is amazingly light. It must be close to (or even less than) one pound, but I don't have a scale that is that small. Comparing my body weight with and without the truss is negligible.

The truss is 21 inches long and 1 3/8 inches diameter. There is a very bold and clear stamp in red ink on both sides with part # LDW280-18847-19 A3.

Each end fitting is attached with 12 pieces of tiny hardware which are each sealed with a sealer. Curiously, it seems that each of the (24 total) hardware items are each individually stamped with a red inspector stamp (#621) and each of the main truss part number stamps is folowed by another inspector stamp #1459. The truss ends that are into the tubing are also cleanly sealed with some type of composite sealer.

Contractor press kits relating to the Apollo 11 mission

 

I've worked in marketing and PR my entire career and am fascinated by the press kits put out by NASA and by the contractors. I was fortunate to have acquired a set of complete press kits used by a journalist while covering the Apollo 11 mission. Included are press kits from IBM (Computer systems), North American Rockwell (Command Module), Grumman (Lunar Module), TRW (Engines), and several other kits not pictured here.

Apollo spacecraft accessories bag

Bags of this type were used by astronauts to store items in the Command Module and Lunar Module. While  bags of this type flew on most Apollo missions, unfortunately the Apollo Stowage Lists did not record the serial numbers of the bags that flew to the moon.

This accessories bag was manufactured by Welson & Co. on February 5, 1971. It is part number SEB 13100114-701, serial number 1257