Apollo Boilerplate Command Module with the flotation collar and bags from Apollo 11. Exhibit at Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center
“NASA built several ‘boilerplate’ Apollo command modules for testing and to train astronauts and other mission crew members. This one is made of aluminum with a fiberglass outer shell and has an actual command module hatch. It was used by Apollo astronauts, including the crew of Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission, to practice routine and emergency exits. The interior was later fitted with actual or mockup components to simulate the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft and the five-person rescue vehicle planned for use in an emergency developed during the Skylab program.
“Boilerplate No. 1102A is displayed here with the flotation collar and bags that were attached to the Apollo 11 command module ‘Columbia’ when it landed in the ocean at the end of its historic mission.” [Description accompanying the exhibit]
Apollo Boilerplate Command Module with the flotation collar and bags from Apollo 11. Exhibit at Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center
“NASA built several ‘boilerplate’ Apollo command modules for testing and to train astronauts and other mission crew members. This one is made of aluminum with a fiberglass outer shell and has an actual command module hatch. It was used by Apollo astronauts, including the crew of Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission, to practice routine and emergency exits. The interior was later fitted with actual or mockup components to simulate the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft and the five-person rescue vehicle planned for use in an emergency developed during the Skylab program.
“Boilerplate No. 1102A is displayed here with the flotation collar and bags that were attached to the Apollo 11 command module ‘Columbia’ when it landed in the ocean at the end of its historic mission.” [Description accompanying the exhibit]