Uncategorized

I consider the Apollo Guidance Computer Display and Keyboard (DSKY – pronounced "Dis-key") to be the most important bit of hardware in the Apollo program.   The Apollo Guidance Computer is arguably the most important computer ever developed. It was such an early digital computer that the norm for the location of digits hadn't yet […]

The lithium hydroxide canister was designed as a replaceable filter for the Apollo Command Module environmental control unit (ECU). The main purpose of the canister was as a CO2 scrubber for breathable air for the astronauts. The ECU provided cooling, water and breathable oxygen for the astronauts’ and was connected to their spacesuits and spacecraft

When my wife and I underwent a major renovation and addition project to our mid-century modern home, we used this as an ideal opportunity to build a showcase for my collection of Apollo artifacts. It was important to plan for where things would go from the start of the project more than two years before

I just got my copy of the new book Apollo: The Panoramas by Mike Constantine and it is absolutely fascinating. The Apollo astronauts from each lunar landing mission did several series of panorama photographs. They would stand in one position and turn around while taking a series of a dozen or so Hasselblad photos at

My wife Yukari Watanabe Scott and I commissioned this fantastic painting from Apollo 12 astronaut and artist Alan Bean. “Boy, you can sure move on this surface” Here is the story that Alan wrote describing the painting: Prior to our Apollo 12 mission in November 1969, Pete Conrad and I talked with Neil Armstrong and

This flown data file clip was originally from the collection of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin and was used on the historic Apollo 11 mission. The clip is 1.75″ x 2.25″ x 0.75″ and made of lightweight aluminum. It would have been used to hold charts and checklists during the mission. In the

The off-the-shelf Exer-Genie personal exerciser was perfect for spacecraft use because of its small size. Prior to Apollo 7, the astronauts were charged with finding a way to stay fit. For my book Marketing the Moon written with Richard Jurek, we interviewed Walt Cunningham, Apollo 7 astronaut, about how the Exer-Genie was selected for space

I have a large collection of press kits prepared by the public relations staffs at the major contractors for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. These press kits provided valuable additional information not found in NASA-issued releases. Reporters and editors working on stories about the lunar landings had access to such documents from more than

This video from the TEDx YouTube channel is my TEDx talk The Need to Explore. Direct link to The Need to Explore on YouTube. This is a completely new speech for me with no reliance on the material I use in my keynotes. It was fun (but hard work) to create a brand new talk