Apollo Artifacts

Apollo 9 heat shield plug Lucite display

David Meerman Scott — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:15:08 +0000

This is a circular chunk of the heat shield from Apollo 9. Heat shields were manufactured by AVCO Corporation, with integration by NAA (North American Aviation), and are comprised of an extremely lightweight fiberglass honeycomb which is hand filled by air gun with the ablative resin material. The ablative system dissipates heat as the material melts and chars during re-entry, mitigating the 20,000 degree heat experienced by the CSM as it transits through the extreme thermo-dynamic phase of the re-entry corridor.

Apollo 15 beta cloth patch Lucite display

David Meerman Scott — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 11:18:42 +0000

This interesting Lucite display reads “FIRST MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVEN ON THE MOON. Fiberglass materials continue to play an important role in man’s exploration of space—from textiles in fire-safe suits, to reinforcement applications in the lunar and command modules and now in the Lunar Roving Vehicle. Owens Corning Fiberglas. July 30 to August 2, 1971.”

Apollo 11 Mylar Command Module Thermal Coating in Lucite

David Meerman Scott — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:12:42 +0000

I had always wanted an interesting flown item from Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission. This one inch square of Mylar encased in Lucite, would have been created by NASA as mementos for VIPs and people who worked on the mission.

Apollo 13 flown couch material Lucite intended for Apollo 13 movie VIPs

David Meerman Scott — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 12:44:19 +0000

The bottom of this fascinating artifact reads: “This is a segment of the actual backing restraint material removed from mission commander James A Lovell’s spacecraft couch aboard the Apollo 13 command module ‘Odyssey’. This artifact symbolizes one of the greatest human dramas to ever unfold in space during the near catastrophic mission of Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970. Presented by the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center as a tribute to your participation in the development of Universal Studio’s movie production of ‘Apollo 13’.”

The Apollo 13 command module is displayed at the Kansas Cosmophere. A small number of these lucite artifacts were sold to the public to raise money and even fewer were given away to the VIPs who worked on the Apollo 13 movie.

Apollo 11 beta cloth patch Owens Corning commemorative lucite

David Meerman Scott — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 11:09:47 +0000

A section of beta cloth with an Apollo 11 mission emblem encased in lucite. It reads: “Man’s greatest adventure. July 20, 1969 First men set foot on the moon. Fire-safe Fiberglass Beta yarns, originated and developed by Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, were used in the space suits worn by the Apollo astronauts. This Apollo mission emblem is also printed on Beta fabric.”

Apollo 8 lucite issued by General Motors AC Electronics

David Meerman Scott — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 09:17:33 +0000

This interesting lucite was issued by the AC Electronics Division of General Motors, which developed the guidance systems of the Apollo CM, to commemorate the Apollo 8 flight around the moon. It reads December 21-27, 1968, Guidance and Navigation / AC Electronics Division / General Motors and has the Apollo 8 mission emblem.

Apollo Soyuz Test Project flown kapton lucite

David Meerman Scott — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 06:38:41 +0000

This small piece of protective material from the command module of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project.