Crewmen aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, prime recovery ship for the Apollo 13 mission, hoist the Command Module aboard ship. The Apollo 13 crewmen were already aboard the Iwo Jima when this photograph was taken. The Apollo 13 spacecraft splashed down at 1:07:44 p.m. Eastern Time, April 17, 1970 in the South Pacific Ocean.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA

Image Number: S70-35632

Date: April 17, 1970

“SPACE TV - - Millions of Americans will enjoy “live” television from space this Fall when a 4 1/2-pound RCA TV camera is carried aloft by three astronauts during the first manned flight of the Apollo Command Module. The camera will transmit scenes of the astronauts at work in their spacecraft and can be aimed out the Command Module’s windows for panoramic views of earth. The compact camera was developed by RCA for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Manned Spacecraft Center. Dick Dunphy, who headed the RCA space team which developed the shoebox-size unit, demonstrates how astronauts might aim the camera for views of earth or other celestial bodies. The Command Module serves as a fitting background.”

And, per the caption of the NASA-appropriated issuance of the photo:

“SPACE-TACULAR" expected to show up on U.S.

Television sets when astronauts make their 10-day Apollo flight in late sunner will be shot, in orbit, by this 4½-pound TV camera developed by RCA expressly for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission. Pictures originating in outer space will be brought in "live". Dick Dunphy, shown sighting with the pistol-grip unit, headed up the space-camera team that conceived it. It's only 1/85th as large as those used in TV studios, weighs only 1/30th as much.”

The “UNITED STATES/U.S. flag” decals(?), stenciling(?) look to be that of CM-012. Not implying they ARE such, they are however the same.

Featuring the image and a whole lot more, at the wonderful “Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station” website:

www.honeysucklecreek.net/images/images_Apollo_8/RCA-Apoll...

“SATURN APOLLO 501 IN HIGH BAY 1, WITH WORK PLATFORMS RETRACTED. VAB HIGH BAY 1.

5-24-67”

Note access arm No. 8 “Service Module (inflight)” directly behind the CSM. Access arm No. 9 “Command Module (preflight)” is to the far right. Speaking of the CSM, note also the lack of RCS thrusters on the SM. Kind of clue as to vehicle identification.

And, unless something else surfaces, maybe on the verso of a “S-67-XXXXX” version of this photo - if such exists - the following lame, I’m sure contemporary pablum is apparently what’s meant to pass as the official description/caption:

“This photograph depicts the Saturn V vehicle (SA-501) for the Apollo 4 mission in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). After the completion of the assembly operation, the work platform was retracted and the vehicle was readied to rollout from the VAB to the launch pad. The Apollo 4 mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmanned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.”

Surprisingly, the above, with a bullshit, probably arbitrarily assigned “NASA ID” of 6754387 is actually available at:

images.nasa.gov/details-6754387

Unfortunately, as with many others, the description has been propagated everywhere. While I’ve read MUCH worse, it’s merely a copy/paste from some Apollo 4 document, which doesn’t address the context of the photograph…that is, what’s actually going on…the REASON the photograph was taken.

With that, the recognition/correct identification of the content of this photograph, along with the date, hence its pertinence to the problematic history of the SA-501 vehicle, has been…take your pick: lost, overlooked, unrecognized, omitted…something unacceptable.

For starters, the NASA photo ninjas, especially at the time of the photo’s processing, i.e., 1967, should’ve recognized that the CSM atop the vehicle was NOT the flight CSM (CSM-017). It ALSO should’ve been easily/readily identified as M-11, the Flight Verification Vehicle (FVV), it having been photographed a bazillion times during 1966 as part of SA-500F photo documentation.

As if that weren’t enough, within the multiple regurgitations of the trials & tribulations of making Apollo 4 happen, there’s not a mention of M-11, other than within the following, which although incomplete, with its own errors, at least references it…ONCE:

“The third stage (S-IVB) was the first major component of Apollo 4 to be delivered at KSC. It arrived from Sacramento aboard the Guppy aircraft on 14 August 1966 and went immediately into a low bay of the assembly building for inspection and checkout. The following week the spacer and instrument unit arrived. On 12 September, as Peter Conrad and Richard Gordon prepared to blast off in Gemini 11, the barge Poseidon sailed into the Banana River with the first stage. Boeing gave it a lengthy checkout in the transfer aisle of the high bay before erecting the booster on 27 October. During the following week, technicians stacked the remaining launch vehicle stages, using the spool for the absent S-II. There were a few problems - the checkout of the swing arms took an extra two days and a cooling unit for the instrument unit sprang a leak - but the launch team, still counting on the mid-November delivery date for the S-II, hoped to roll the complete vehicle out to pad A by 13 January 1967.

By late November the Apollo Program Office had moved the S-II's arrival back to January, and the launch back to April. Since spacecraft 017 would not arrive for another three weeks, KSC erected the facilities verification model of Apollo on 28 November.

[The first linked black & white photograph by Cliff Steenhoff below, depicts such.]

This allowed North American to check out some of its spacecraft support equipment. The first week in December the memory core in a digital events evaluator failed after intermittent troubles; cracked solder joints were blamed. A hurried repair put the computer back on line.

The command-service module arrived at KSC on Christmas Eve and was mated to the launch vehicle on 12 January 1967. That tardy prima donna, the S-II stage, finally appeared on 21 January. Tank inspection, insulation, and engine work were in progress by the 23rd. Test crews found damaged connectors on three recirculation pumps and set about investigating the extent of the rework that would be necessary. While inspecting the liquid hydrogen tank on the second stage, the North American team found 22 cracked gussets. These triangular metal braces, used to support the horizontal ribs of the stage framework, had to be replaced. Plans to move the second stage into a low bay checkout cell on the 29th were temporarily set aside because of a late shipment of the aft interstage (the cylindrical aluminum structure that formed the structural interface between the first and second stages). The interstage arrived on 31 January, and by the end of the next day the stage was in a low bay cell with work platforms around it.

Despite the delay with the S-II stage, KSC officials expected to meet the new launch date in May. The fire on 27 January placed all schedules in question. Although Apollo 4 was an unmanned mission, NASA officials wanted to give command-module 017 a close examination. On 14 February, a week before the S-II could be inserted into a fully assembled vehicle, the spacecraft was removed from the stack and taken to the operations and checkout building. When inspection disclosed a number of wiring errors, KSC's Operations Office cancelled the restacking of the spacecraft. By 1 March electrical engineers had discovered so many wiring discrepancies that the test team stopped their repair work, pending a thorough investigation of all spacecraft wiring. Within two weeks the North American and NASA quality control teams recorded 1,407 discrepancies. While North American repaired about half of these on the spot, modifications, repair work, and validations continued into June. During the break technicians performed pressure tests on service module systems at pad 16. It would be mid-June, with the wiring modifications for the command module finally completed, before North American could remate the spacecraft and take it back to the assembly building.

As the extent of the wiring problems was not immediately recognized, the launch vehicle team forged ahead to recoup the time lost on the S-II stage. In mid-February Boeing's airframe handling and ordnance group removed the instrument unit and spacer from the 501 stack and on the 23rd erected the S-II. The operation involved incredibly close tolerances. To qualify crane handlers, Stanley Smith, Bendix senior engineer of the crane and hoist group, stated, "We give them a technical examination and then check their reflexes and response to commands in training sessions." During a mating, an operator and an electrician boarded the crane and another man helped guide movements from the floor by communicating with the operator via a walkie-talkie. Smith set a high goal for his team: "We strive to train our men to the point where they could conceivably lower the crane hook on top of an egg without breaking the shell."

After a stage was properly aligned on the Saturn stack, a crew of one engineer, two quality control inspectors, one chief mechanic, and eight assistants took eight hours to complete the mating. Three 30-centimeter pins on the second stage fitted into brackets located 120 degrees apart on the periphery of the first stage. Then the mechanics inserted 216 one-centimeter, high-strength fasteners into matching holes around the perimeter where the two stages joined. The team torqued the fasteners in a staggered sequence to secure the bolts evenly and ensure a uniform distribution of stress. The mating of the second and third stages was conducted in much the same manner. The 501 was now set up except for the missing CSM.

[This is where something about the FVV (M-11) being reincorporated into the stack should’ve been referenced.]

The lengthy delays with the flight hardware aided the Site Activation Board in its efforts to get LC-39 ready for its first launch. The board's first flow [see chapter 15-1] included firing room 1, mobile launcher 1, high bay 1, and the other facilities required for the support of Apollo 4 - 1,280 activities altogether. During the first quarter of 1967, PERT charts showed less than 1% of these activities behind schedule. The decision in mid-April to modify the LOX system on launcher 1 and pad A put five weeks of negative slack into the site activation schedule. The modifications were made necessary by excessive pressure in the LOX system. KSC engineers added an automatic bleed system, relief valve supports, and a block valve that prevented purging through the drain line. As continued vehicle problems further delayed the rollout, the five weeks of negative slack disappeared.

On 24 May the S-II stage was in trouble again. NASA announced it would be dismantled for inspection, consequent on the discovery of hairline cracks in the propellant tank weld seams on another S-II at the factory in California.

[The photograph is dated 5-24-67. If correct, then the image was taken as part of documenting preparations for destacking M-11 & the S-IVB in order to remove the S-II stage.]

Additionally, thanks to the remarkable “CAPCOM ESPACE” website:

“For Apollo 4, the M11 was placed on launcher 501 on November 28, 1966 and removed at the end of 1966 following delays in stage S2. It will be put back in place on April 6, 1967 and removed on May 26.”]

Above, along with much more good stuff, at:

www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/apollo/vaisseaux/...

So, somewhere out there, there’s some documentation from which the above was gleaned. I probably don’t have it & certainly didn’t find it online.]

The additional checks were not expected to delay the flight of 501 "more than a week or so." By mid-June the inspection, which included extensive x-ray and dye penetrant tests, was completed and the stage returned to the stack. On 20 June, the command-service module was mechanically mated to the Saturn V, and 501 was - at last - a fully assembled space vehicle. A revised schedule on 21 July set rollout for mid-August. On 26 August 1967, the big rocket emerged from the high bay slightly more than a year after its first components had arrived at KSC, and a good six months after its originally scheduled launch date. It had been a year of delay and frustration, and the end was not yet.”

The above, other than the inserted (bracketed) astute comments, observations & additional useful links, at/from:

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch19-3.html

Inexcusable, incompetent, confounding at least, considering the importance/significance of this vehicle. But then again, for an organization that seems to have “officially/formally” misidentified the Command Module on display at Expo ’67 – to this day – the oversight, ignorance & tacit mis/non-identification of a lowly FVV is both literally & figuratively a no-brainer. The buffoonery continues. At least this shit is so far back in the rearview mirror that no one remembers, those that did are probably dead, and no one now cares, or will in the future. No harm, no foul, all good. 👍

“Flight verification vehicle A14-135 support assembly Command Module optical alignment installation – overall view, high angle. MSO. Bldg. altitude chamber.”

Astronaut Ronald E. Evans, Command and Service Module (CSM) Pilot, performs an Extravehicular Activity (EVA), retrieving film from cameras stowed in the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay of the CSM. Image taken during the Apollo 17 mission on Trans-Earth Coast (TEC).

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA

Image Number: as17-152-23392

Date: December 17, 1972

“EVOLUTION OF SPACE”

Although it’s quite the smorgasbord, with U.S. spaceflight - primarily manned - prominent, I see no Gemini representation. Probably because this is a promotion of North American Aviation/Rockwell/Rockwell Int'l & its/their subsidiaries' accomplishments. If so though, then what’s the Mercury Little Joe doing in there? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A very nice work, with no signature unfortunately. Bert Winthrop? Maybe even Manuel Alvarez?

The Apollo 14 command module is located at Kennedy Space Center's Apollo/Saturn V Center (bus tour destination). It's tucked away in a side room on the left side of the building. It's great to see it up close.

This is a bracketed 3 exposure handheld image (-1,0,+1). Full disclosure: I tonemapped the module to bring out the detail from the beating it took coming back through earth's atmosphere. It doesn't look that singed up in person but I liked the look to emphasize what the module endured on re-entry.

“APOLLO 4 RECOVERY---The Apollo Spacecraft 017 Command Module is lowered onto a dolly on the deck of the USS Bennington, prime recovery ship for the Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) unmanned, earth-orbital space mission. The Command Module splashed down at 3:37 p.m. (EST), November 9, 1967, 934 nautical miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Note charred heat shield caused by extreme heat of reentry.”

A really good description/caption...somewhere, pigs are flying.

Despite the erroneous (to a degree) reference to CM-009 as being a “large” hatch window CM, it was also a “small” hatch window CM – at the same time – addressed and as can be seen at the following wonderful site:

heroicrelics.org/info/apollo-4/apollo-4-hatch.html

Credit: Mike Jetzer/HEROIC RELICS website

And check out the Master-at-Arms...with the baton in his hand, either ready to club the alien that may have snuck onboard, or, being Navy, to make sure no one lifts something from the cockpit.

Just kidding shipmates, just kidding. 😉👍

A beautiful 1970 McDonnell Douglas Corporation/McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company cutaway depiction of the Skylab cluster in earth orbit.

It’s so damned good looking, along with the look of the clouds, that makes me think it’s by the superbly talented Ted Brown.

8.5” x 10.9375”.

“During Apollo 4, the Service Module main engine was used to accelerate the unmanned spacecraft so that its reentry velocity would be comparable to that at the end of a manned lunar mission.”

The above, I assume, is per the caption/accompanying press slug associated with the linked photo below.

Although unnumbered, the work is clearly by Russ Arasmith. As such, it was likely used in press releases & therefore, handled accordingly. Despite this, it has retained its high gloss.

“SPACE WORKSHOP — Concept of Saturn S-IVB Orbital Workshop by Douglas Aircraft Company artist shows how giant rocket will appear after it is converted into two-story experimental laboratory in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Apollo Applications Program. The S-IVB stage (right) will be launched fully fueled, carrying the docking adapter and airlock seen in center. These will give astronauts access to the rocket’s liquid hydrogen tank after propellants have been depleted and will provide a “shirtsleeve” environment inside. Astronauts will be launched separately in an Apollo vehicle, rendezvous with the S-IVB and dock as shown at left. Cutaway section of S-IVB shows floor and partitions of lightweight metal grating which will divide the tank into separate “rooms” for astronaut activities without interfering with flow of fuel during launch. The “wings,” panels of solar cells to provide electric power, are folded down against the S-IVB during launch and extended after orbit is achieved. Windmill-like structure against side of the docking adapter is the Apollo Telescope Mount which will be added to the Workshop in second phase of program. Douglas, a component of McDonnell Douglas Corporation, builds the S-IVB at its Missile & Space Systems Division, Huntington Beach, Calif., for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and is making necessary modifications to the Orbiting Workshop vehicle under MSFC direction. The airlock is being developed by the McDonnell Astronautics Company, St. Louis, Mo., under contract to NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center.”

8.5" x 11".

For some reason, unbeknownst to me at the moment, I didn't cite where the above is from...which I used in my black & white version of this photo. WTF? And I don't have it in me to track down.

Beautiful artwork by Neil Jacobe.

allsouls.tributes.com/show/Neil-Edmund-Jacobe-95410682

Credit: All Souls Mortuary website

THANK YOU Mr. Jacobe, continue to Rest In Peace.

Astronaut Vance D. Brand, command module pilot of the American Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) crew, is seen at the controls of the Apollo Command Module during the joint ASTP docking in Earth orbit mission.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA

Image Number: AST-08-499

Date: 15-24 July 1975

At the conclusion of the 1-hr 33-minute AS-202 mission on August 25, 1966, CM-011 is hoisted aboard the USS Hornet (CV-12) during recovery operations off of Wake Island.

~9.5” x 12.15”.

nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694co...

Credit: New York Heritage Digital Collections website

Other than propagating the inexplicable & inexcusable misidentification of this capsule as being the one on display at Expo ‘67, an excellent article:

www.nasa.gov/feature/55-years-ago-apollo-as-202-final-tes...

I reached out to the guy that wrote it via LinkedIn…crickets…imagine that. 👎

The following wonderful extracts provide information regarding CM-007/007A, the first specifically pertaining to the circumstances of the photograph. I highly recommend reading both in their entirety:

From an article by Amy Shira Teitel for Popular Science magazine online:

”Spacecraft 007 arrived at NASA’s Manned Spaceflight Center in Houston on April 18, 1966. Designed to test the spacecraft’s post-landing systems – the crew egress, survival, communications, location, power, and ventilation systems astronauts would rely on after returning from the Moon – this test article was a Block I version of the command module with the same configuration as flight articles. There was just one key difference: in place of the ablative heat shield, spacecraft 007’s was made of cork.

The first test in a natural body of water was the first delayed recovery test and it took place in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a run through to see what would happen if, after splashdown, adverse weather or rough seas kept recovery forces from collecting the crew from the ocean. The spacecraft’s systems could give engineers technical data, but they needed human factors data as well and this meant the test had to be manned. In this case, the crew was three volunteer “astronauts” associated with the Apollo program: Texas M. Ward, head of the Apollo egress training program, fellow Apollo astronaut trainer Louis DeWolf, and member of the Apollo Landing and Recovery Division Harry Clancy. Each of these three men knew that sitting in for astronauts on this test would give them a unique perspective on their work, but none were sure what lay in store sitting in a spacecraft at sea for two days.

The test started on Friday, September 30 at 4pm once the main test requirement was met: the water was rough enough to produce the desired three-to-four-foot waves. The three volunteers were strapped into their couches, the hatch was closed, and spacecraft 007 was lowered from the deck of the Motor Vessel Retriever.

The first part of the test was a test of the spacecraft’s ability to right itself. Spacecraft 007 was immediately flipped upside-down to its Stable-Two position (the thin end of the cone was facing down into the water and the heat shield was facing the sky), which left Ward, DeWolf, and Clancy suspended from their harnesses. Before long, the spacecraft’s two electric air compressors inflated the three uprighting bags, flipping the command module to its Stable-One position, the upright (heat shield down) position that had the stand-in astronauts lying comfortably in their couches.

This first objective achieved, the less exciting duration test began. Spacecraft 007 drifted south for 24 hours before starting to move parallel to the coast while a weather front moved through the test area generating waves 12 feet high. All the while, the Retriever was nearby keeping an eye on the spacecraft and establishing voice communication with the crew at least once an hour on the hour. As would be the case on the first two manned Apollo missions, one man out of three men was awake at all times to monitor the spacecraft systems and keep the test operators in the loop.

The test ended on Sunday night, and for the crew this meant a very welcome shower, shave, and steak dinner. The three men unanimously agreed that the test had overall been quite a ride. Especially when things got rough during the flip to Stable-Two and when the waves picked up; during these dynamic moments there was little for the volunteer astronauts to do but hang on. But more importantly, the spacecraft had weathered the rough waves and lengthy float very well. Ward noted that the Apollo spacecraft was a far better boat than the Gemini spacecraft, more stable and comfortable. All in all, the test subjects agreed it was a “pretty seaworthy craft.”

At:

www.popsci.com/blog-network/vintage-space/when-astronauts...

Along with:

“CM-007/007A is a North American Aviation production-line Apollo Command Module (CM) spacecraft designated as a ground test vehicle for water impact, acoustic and vibration, and postlanding tests. The CM was skinned with cork on the aft and crew compartment heat shields to simulate the flight ablator. CM-007 was in the Block I configuration and initially used in impact and acoustic testing at the manufacturer in Downey, California. It was the first Apollo Command Module delivered to the NASA-Manned Spacecraft Center (NASA-MSC) and was assigned to be used in manned postlanding tests to be conducted by the Landing and Recovery Division. These tests included systems operational and crew compatibility tests for uprighting, postlanding ECS, postlanding communications systems and recovery.

After delivery to Houston in April, 1966, CM-007 was prepared for open water tests in the Gulf of Mexico to operationally qualify the Block I CM postlanding systems. The manned Block I 48-hour open water tests in the Gulf of Mexico were successfully conducted with a NASA test subject crew (Harry Clancy, Tex Ward, Lou DeWolf) onboard CM-007 on September 30-October 2, 1966. Following completion of the Block I tests, CM-007 was shipped back to North American Rockwell in 1967 for modification to Block II (CM-101/Apollo 7 had a two-hatch configuration in the tunnel as compared to subsequent missions which had a single unified tunnel hatch configuration.) After modification, CM-007 was designated CM-007A and returned to NASA-MSC for testing. After the modifications, the manned Block II 48-hour open water tests in the Gulf of Mexico were successfully conducted with an astronaut crew (James A. Lovell, Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, and Charles M. Duke, Jr.) onboard CM007A on April 5-7, 1968. After returning to NASA/MSC, the tunnel hatch was reconfigured to the single unified hatch by a contractor team. Additional static water testing of the uprighting system bag failure modes continued in 1968 in NASA-MSC Building-260 water tank.”

At:

www.jonessite.net/upload/LRD/stories/CM007A.pdf

Credit: Coye Mac Jones' website

I wish I had more information regarding Mr. Jones! Other than:

“Welcome to Broomfield in the Denver/Boulder Colorado area. We moved here from Pagosa Springs Colorado almost three years after CMJ retired from NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston TX on 1/3/03 after 38 years of service, including the historic Project Apollo and Space Shuttle Program. We love our cats Rusty and Berry.”

Also:

photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPBNJ4rFImUqIJsn2mpVVvFrwZr0...

Credit: Coye Jones/Google Photos

Finally:

www.museumofflight.org/spacecraft/north-american-aviation...

Credit: 'The Museum of Flight' website

Tangential but pertinent:

ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19730010171/downloads/1973001...

White Sands Missile Range personnel are shown loading Boilerplate 23 (BP-23) onto a transport carrier, following the successful flight to test the Apollo LES. The boilerplate was only slightly damaged. A Little Joe II was the launch vehicle.

I wonder what the logo on the back of the gentleman’s coveralls is. It’s definitely the outline of a capsule. Maybe with an LES? And his headgear looks like it might be military issue. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Artist concept of "Moon Mission"."

3-10-66

What a pathetic effort at a caption for a spectacular work of art. More than likely by the supremely talented Mr. Gary Meyer The realism of the parachutes is amazing. The minimal spacecraft detail required/visible, with parachute appearance determined early & remaining constant, allowed this depiction to remain unchanged over multiple reissues of it.

garymeyerillustration.net/BIOGRAPHY.html

garymeyerillustration.net/ILLUSTRATIONS/Pages/early_work....

garymeyerillustration.net/ILLUSTRATIONS/Pages/early_work....

A delightful depiction of Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) ascent stage liftoff from the moon, as part of a series of Marquardt Corporation ads, circa 1962/63. Marquardt was the manufacturer of the Reaction Control System (RCS) engines for both the LEM & Command/Service Module.

Despite what appears to be a stylized/logo-like "K" or “JK” near the lower border of the image, I believe the artist of this, along with the other works in this series of ads, to be David "Dave" Hawbecker.

A totally unexpected find, I’m almost giddy - I don’t get giddy - therefore a huge WIN.

Note the cloudless earth…thus drawing one’s eye to the masterful three-dimensional rendering of the mountainous western regions of both North & South America. Well played Mr. Hawbecker. 👍

However, this is still what I hear when I look at the RCS thruster plume. 😉

m.youtube.com/watch?v=dwiompXH6kI&feature=youtu.be

Credit: John Majka/YouTube

Additionally, purportedly, also by the hand of Mr. Hawbecker. If so, a WIN WithIN a WIN...cha-ching. I would've LOVED to have seen the entire lot:

profilesinhistory.com/flipbooks/Historical91/mobile/index...

Credit: "Profiles in History" auction house website

Since there’s no such thing as too much Lunar (Excursion) Module, nor too much Craig Kavafes works, this is a two-fer. 👍

The scene depicts Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI). Note the LEM’s round egress/ingress hatch/combination forward docking port (not really sure about that in 1965) and lack of a ladder.

Note also the Block I Command Module, identifiable by the 'vertically' oriented pitch reaction control system thrusters. Incorrect by this time I'd think. But hey, that's a NAA-thing, and the responsibility of THEIR artists to get right.

Beautiful. Striking. Timeless.

McDonnell Douglas Corp. artist’s concept of, for all intents & purposes, what was to become known as ‘Skylab’. If the stamped date is correct, this is possibly one of the first depictions of the “dry” Workshop configuration with integrated (deployable) Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). NASA formally decided upon the single Saturn V-launched dry configuration during July 1969.

Although lacking a signature, being of McDonnell Douglas origin, I’m confident it’s by the immensely talented Neil Jacobe. Additionally, fairly consistent depictions of some components in preceding depictions of AAP/Skylab configurations – confirmed to be by Mr. Jacobe – provides additional confirmation.

11” x 13.75”.

As with most ‘historical’ NASA stuff, primarily imagery, it’s all over the place, with no rhyme or reason. To me, the random scattering of AAP/Skylab & offshoots are a close second/third to both that of (non-Skylab) space station & space shuttle conceptualizations.

The image, inverted, along with excellent information, is at the wonderful CAPCOM ESPACE website:

www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/skylab/1969.htm

boeing.archivea.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=192184&...

“Overall view of BP-6 command module and launch escape system on adapter ring in firing position at Apollo-Little Joe II launch area, WSMR, N. M.”

I love the austere ‘field expedient/field exercise’ look, and how it’s accentuated from/by this elevated perspective.

1963, six years before Apollo 11.

Unprecedented.

Never to be replicated. IMHO at least.

In color:

pin.it/1vzHM29sI

Along with other excellent photographs of BP-6…and a whole lot more:

georgesrockets.com/GRP/Scale/DATA/JoePhotos2.html

Specifically:

georgesrockets.com/GRP/Scale/DATA/JoePhotos5/s6313884.jpg

Both above credit: the wonderful website of Mr. George Gassaway, “GEORGE’S ROCKETRY PAGES”

An exquisite ca. 1967-71 (total SWAG) cutaway diagram of the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM), with Launch Escape System (LES). The image was possibly originally created for & contained within the “Apollo Spacecraft News Reference” manual. Over the course of the Apollo Program, the manual was revised several times to more accurately reflect changes, updates, additions, etc., to hardware, timelines (maybe?), etc.

As such, because of the featureless non-ribbed SM radiator panels, I think this to be an earlier/initial rendering, subsequently updated with the callouts “REACTION CONTROL ENGINES (QUAD)” and “HIGH-GAIN (DEEP SPACE) ANTENNA”. They can be seen to be affixed to the original image, likely over what was originally printed. Another version bears “RCS QUAD” and “S-BAND HIGH GAIN ANTENNA” respectively.

Who knows what other versions have? Who knows how many revisions were made? I’d expect the source material for the CSM news reference to have been primarily of NAA/NAR origin, hence the talented unidentified artist responsible to have been under their employ.

Speaking of exquisite:

heroicrelics.org/info/csm/csm-general.html#csmcanr

Credit: Mike Jetzer/heroicrelics.org

In exquisite color:

www.apolloproject.com/diagrams/csm-diagram-tempi.jpg

Credit: APOLLOPROJECT.com website

From the 'official' caption for S-71-39614...slightly modified, since it applies to this photo as well:

“An artist's concept of the Apollo 15 Command and Service Modules (CSM), showing two crewmembers performing a new-to-Apollo extravehicular activity (EVA). The figure at left represents astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot, connected by an umbilical tether to the CM, at right, where a figure representing astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, stands at the open CM hatch. Worden is working with the panoramic camera in the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM). In front of Irwin is the 16mm data acquisition camera. Artwork by North American Rockwell."

I’ve never seen this perspective before from this 'series'. Also, it’s from ca. 1971, yet the helmets depicted look pretty much like Gemini program GH-4-C helmets, not the Apollo LEVA.

R.I.P. Gentlemen, with heartfelt thanks.

Although not as evident in this image, and not exclusive to any single artist, based on the 'brush-stroke heavy' background, I'm sorta considering this to possibly have been by the hand of Donald W. Bester.

Just putting it out there, not that it matters...to anyone but me quite frankly.

Based on the date, 12-11-63, a wonderful view down an assembly line of Command Module (CM) crew compartment mock-ups at North American Aviation’s (NAA) Downey plant. Note the ample lumber racked/stacked against the back wall, along with various sundry pieces all over the place, to include on the landing of the stairs in the foreground. Initially, I even thought the conical things on the floor, at the periphery of the work jigs, were sawdust piles.

A nearly complete(?) CM can be seen in the background, with either window cut-outs or markings & “United States” decal/paint job.

Lastly, on a nearer table to the left, multiple handwritten part(?) numbers are just discernible on the, uh…bag/giant shim(?), and on the one on its side, immediately behind it. Also, a diagram/blueprint, possibly of a CM, is nearly discernible, to the right of the nearest mock-up.

Outstanding, in many ways…far beyond the photograph.

In LESS than six years, the real thing (no wood) safely transported humans to/back from the moon…upon which they WALKED…TWICE.

“LM with two men separates from CSM”

Above taken from the caption associated with its precursor version, figure/plate P-25 of North American Rockwell’s “APOLLO 11: MAN ON THE MOON” News kit/packet.

I think it’s by either Gary Meyer or Henry Lozano. I can go either way at any given time. Or neither. Maybe Donald Bester? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A striking & very original/unique (in choice of scenes) ca. 1967 montage by the eminently talented/prolific Russell Arasmith, possibly as part of press coverage preceding the flight of Apollo 7.

Note the faintly outlined blank rectangular area to the lower right. Possibly for whatever descriptive text to be inserted by press organizations, such as crew, launch date, spacecraft details, etc., etc.

Understandably, the CSM & spacesuit configuration/appearance is based on Apollo 1. The Rocketdyne J-2 engine of the S-IVB stage figures prominently in the illustration as well.

The discovery of rare, seldom/never seen ‘space’ artwork, such as this, is sadly, always tempered in knowing that there’s so much more that will never see the light of day again.

As is often the case with Mr. Arasmith’s works, numbering is seen in the corner of the border. Probably identifying its sequence in a/the series.

See what I mean? There were then four preceding this one, and who knows how many after it! Most, likely gone.

Doesn’t the astronaut look a lot like Fred Haise?

A full life:

www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/westminster-ca/russell...

Credit: Dignity Memorial website

If the date on this is correct, or even close, this is amazing, from the handholds/rungs along the side of the Command Module, to the forward hatch/docking port apparently being the avenue of egress…to everything else depicted. And, to me, although the signature would be conspicuously absent, it has John Gorsuch written all over it.

From the caption/slug affixed to the verso. Although it’s only tangentially applicable to the image, it’s so endearingly simplistic, naïve, colloquial, amusing & entertaining. Which does indeed support the stamped date:

“The most serious problem is that of blasting off from the moon for the return trip. Some automatic means of launching the return vehicle may be necessary for the first landing anywhere. After that, it is possible that man will have humans or equipment to help him get away. A precise time for re-entry into the atmosphere will be necessary, plus a predetermined landing spot. Re-entry heat buildup will be shielded from the occupants of the capsule, which probably will be detached from the space vehicle when the atmosphere is reached. Parachutes will ease early landings in water.”

“CHART: Capsule Comparison. Shot for Heiser & Deberk.”

A wonderful & most gratifying find…in several ways. First, I’d never seen this particular ‘capsule comparison’ depiction; ranging from the Mercury capsule’s non-standard cutaway depiction, i.e., it pointing away, to the Apollo Command Module being of the Direct Ascent variety, with periscopes extended (although pointing in the wrong direction).

Most significantly – in my world – the Gemini capsule depiction – the only spacecraft firing its reaction control system thruster btw – in combination with the sun-earth?/moon? conjunction permitted identification of the artist. That being the (I’m sure unintentionally) enigmatic Arnold Pierce. A major WIN.

This then leads to/supports other similar & derivative early works to also be potentially attributable to Mr. Pierce. Although, I exclusively associated Mr. Pierce to be a McDonnell Aircraft Corporation artist, this however being a Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)-issued photo.

Yessiree, too many tedious & pointless observations, but to me, good stuff…preserved.

Heiser: Joseph M. Heiser Jr.?

Deberk: I think this is a botch job of Gerd De Beek, whose position & other "shot for" reference pretty much confirms. If you wish to go down the rabbit hole with me a little, see the below linked TM-1 LEM photo.

"A vintage illustration of the Apollo Command Module"

Above at/from:

pocketmags.com/us/ad-astra-magazine/2019-2/articles/61855...

Credit: Jay Chladek/”pocketmags” & ad Astra (online magazine?) websites

Artwork by Rosemary A. Dobbins.

Text on the back:

APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING – July 20, 1969

Pacific Recovery Area. Navy Pararescueman and one of the three Apollo 11 astronauts close spacecraft hatch while the other two space pilots watch from life raft after splashdown on July 24, 1969. The pararescueman helped the astronauts from the spacecraft and disinfected them after they donned biological isolation garments.

Posted primarily for my own edification, to serve as a ‘marker’ for possible/hopeful future identification of the artist responsible. Note what appears to be “M.R.” in the lower right-hand corner of Quadrant I of the LM descent stage. Although I’m confident of the “M” & “R”, I might be off regarding the markings to the right of each letter. I’m guessing accentuated/stylized(?) periods. Or, maybe not. Who knows.

Regardless, it's by an MSFC artist, in 1967, with the initials M.R.

“Apollo 6 Command Module landed in the Pacific, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands at 4:56 PM, EST, April 4, 1968. Apollo 6 was the second unmanned flight of the Saturn V in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Lunar Landing Project.

Launch: April 4, 1968 7 AM Complex 39 Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Impact Zone: 27°40’ N - 157°55’ W

50 Nautical miles West of the scheduled impact area.

Onboard Carrier (USS Okinawa) 15 hrs 55 min GET”

How does one ‘schedule’ an impact area…or, for that matter, anything locational/geographic? Most NASA caption writers’ elusive nemesis: the baffling & insurmountable grammatical complexities of the English language, let alone the often ungraspable mysteries of capitalization & punctuation. Ugh. But hey, a pleasant surprise; at least the image isn’t reversed left-to-right.

Actually, compared to all too many other abysmal offerings, this ain’t that bad.

“The Apollo/Saturn 501 spacecraft mated to the Service Module and Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter is being mated to the Saturn V booster at the Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for the first (unmanned) flight of the Apollo/Saturn V.”

“They will rendezvous with the mother ship orbiting the moon about 70 miles up (2).”

Based on the stamped date, issued in conjunction with the flight of Apollo 11. And as part of the press release, labeled as photo no. 2. Image no. 1 of this press release is linked to below.

Contrary to the press slug/caption, I think this depicts LM ascent stage jettison. The ‘cluttered’ appearance of the ascent stage’s drogue assembly would seem to confirm this as well, which is indeed evident in inflight photographs of jettisoned ascent stages. Finally, based on the appearance of the spacecraft, this was possibly the final/near final NAA rendering of the Apollo mission timeline ‘storyboard’.

As with those earlier renderings, I think it’s by Gary Meyer.

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation (GAEC) print/artwork, ca. 1967, depicting Lunar Module Ascent Stage and North American Aviation (NAA) Command/Service Module rendezvous & docking.

Being a GAEC-produced LEM/LM artwork would normally identify the artist to be Craig Kavafes. However, to me, this doesn’t look like it’s by him. Although it must be, right?

The lunar surface depiction actually has a Gary Meyer look to it, but then the Command Module would be proportionally correct..this isn’t. Not to mention the messed up appearance & placement of its RCS nozzles, hatch & windows. The Service Module isn’t right either. 😉

11” x 14”.

“A/S 202 Command Module attached to flotation collar Recovery Area, Central Pacific Ocean.”

The above & image, at:

archive.org/details/S66-49413

Credit: Internet Archive website

And/or:

“Apollo spacecraft 011 Command Module floats in the Pacific Ocean during recovery operations following the successful unmanned Apollo/Saturn Mission 202 test flight.”

At:

apolloarchive.com/apollo/gallery/S66-49413_t.jpg

Credit: ‘Apollo Image Gallery’ website

CONTRARY TO WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY PROMOTED & APPARENTLY, BLINDLY ACCEPTED, SINCE 1967(?),

THIS CAPSULE (CM-011)...

IS NOT...

I SAY AGAIN...

NOT...

THE COMMAND MODULE THAT WAS ON DISPLAY AT EXPO '67.

THE DISPLAYED CAPSULE WAS CM-009, AND IT’S PRETTY DAMNED OBVIOUS.

HOW IN THE WORLD DID THIS PERSIST - AND HAS EVEN BEEN REINFORCED - BY WHAT I THOUGHT WERE KNOWLEDGEABLE, OBSERVANT AT LEAST - FOLKS???

WOW.

JUST WOW.

"APOLLO MODEL - - One-twentieth size engineering model of the Apollo Block-I Spacecraft 012 Command Module."

Spacecraft/Command Module 012 was that of Apollo 1.

The scale cited would make the diameter of this model 7.7". Note the seam, so I assume it’s hinged to reveal the interior. I wish I had a photograph of that!

‘Technically’, the two roll reaction control system thrusters on the left should’ve been depicted as ovals...in order to induce such roll.

Hence, I'm certain this is misidentified as an "engineering model" and does not provide useful or representative engineering data of any sort. It doesn't even look wind tunnel worthy. But it is a really cool desktop model!

"Apollo-4 Configuration"

"Sta" refers to station numbers...which appear to be a standardized bottom-to-top linear reference system, in inches, of the launch vehicle’s ‘planes’ of attachment(?), separation(?) and (thanks to Mike Jetzer)…gimbal.

I think I've also seen station numbers associated with/to levels/points on either the Mobile Service Structure (MSS) or Launcher Umbilical Tower (LUT). Maybe even both? If so, reasonable to assume they correspond with those of the vehicle??? Then again, it may just be a concocted memory on my part.

Fortunately, and commensurate with the superb site it is, the following excerpt, along with additional graphics, sheds light on the ‘mystery’:

“The station numbers are at right. Marshall Space Flight Center station numbers are in inches and are defined such that station 100 is the gimbal plane of the engines. This scheme seems to have started with the Jupiter missile (the first ABMA missile with an engine with gimbal capability; the Jupiter's S-3D engine was 100 inches tall from the exit plane to the gimbal plane) and continued on up to the Saturn V. This leads to the somewhat unusual need, in the case of the much-larger F-1 engine, for negative station numbers.”

At:

heroicrelics.org/info/saturn-v/saturn-v-general.html

heroicrelics.org/info/saturn-v/saturn-v-general/saturn-v-...

Both above credit: Mike Jetzer/heroicrelics.org

If correct, which I have no reason to doubt, how bizarre…to continue the “tradition”. There surely must’ve been some interesting history & background for its 'continuation'. So, station numbers seem to be attributed to MSFC. I don't get it.

Also, although I've found "field splice" in various NASA documents, it still doesn't help me understand or visualize it. So, I guess it's "duh" on my part.

SLS my Artem-ass. 😜

“HEADING HOME . . . The Apollo 11’s service propulsion system rocket engine, developed and built by Aerojet-General, Sacramento, fires to begin the homeward journey following man’s first walk on the moon.”

8.5” x 11”. On a slightly thicker card stock than commonly associated with or expected of a lithograph. The faint horizontal line along the bottom of the image & partially running vertically up from the lower right is just an annoying scanning artifact...of my brand !&@%?! new POS scanner.

Part of an Aerojet-General Corporation souvenir packet distributed by a Sacramento CBS affiliate, KXTV 10, in conjunction with its coverage of the Apollo 11 mission - “MAN ON THE MOON: THE EPIC JOURNEY OF APOLLO 11”.

The dramatic work is by Aerojet-General’s talented resident artist of the time, George Mathis, aka A. Tinker.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3KEhWTnWvE

Credit: YouTube/Ahmad F Elyan

“Command Module 107 and Service Module move from Chamber “L” to work stand. Command Module 108 in background.”

And what appears to be another, possibly later ‘official’ description:

"Apollo Command and Service Modules scheduled for manned landing mission on the Moon cross paths in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at KSC. The meeting occurred when the CSM for Apollo 11 was being hoisted out of a test chamber and the CSM for Apollo 12, which recently arrived at KSC, was getting its initial checkout in the aisle."

And/or:

“Apollo command and service modules scheduled for manned landing missions on the moon cross paths in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at the spaceport. The meeting occurred last night when the CSM for Apollo 11 was being hoisted out of a test chamber and the CSM for Apollo 12, which recently arrived at Kennedy Space Center, was getting its initial checkouts in the aisle. Apollo 11 is scheduled for the first manned lunar landing mission this summer.”

According to a knowledgeable individual at the collectSPACE website, LM-5 & LM-6 were also in the MSOB at this time.

Unexpectedly - the latter, along with the image - are at the following link. Surprisingly, against all odds, they managed to find the image, orient it correctly and then somehow even mustered the competencies & effort to post it for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11:

images.nasa.gov/details-KSC-69P-0204.html

“ASTP DOCKING CONCEPT------An artist’s concept depicting the American Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in Earth orbit. During the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission, scheduled for July 1975, the American and Soviet crews will visit one another’s spacecraft while the Soyuz and Apollo are docked for a maximum period of two days. The mission is designed to test equipment and techniques that will establish international crew rescue capability in space, as well as permit future cooperative scientific missions. Each nation has developed separately docking systems based on mutually agreeable single set of interface design specifications. The major new U.S. program elements are the docking module and docking systems with the USSR-developed hardware to be used on the Soyuz spacecraft. The DM and docking system together with an Apollo Command/Service Module will be launched by a Saturn 1B launch vehicle. This artwork is by Paul Fjeld.”

PictionID:53813353 - Catalog:14_031280 - Title:GD/Astronautics Models Details: Apollo Mission Models; Clear Plastic Date: 05/14/1961 - Filename:14_031280.tif - - Images from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Posted in honor of Don Cole, former "NASA Spacecraft Photographer", in conjunction with the below linked photographs.

Per Mr. Cole's caption of the photograph, from his blog "DonColeCartoons":

"NASA Spacecraft Photographers at work. Donald Cole, on the left; Ken Lee, on the right. Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1960’s."

At:

doncolecartoons.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/where-i-was-when...

The outward appearance of the M-11 Command/Service Module (CSM) combination in this photograph and that of the below linked stacking photograph leads to my associating it with the SA-500F Facilities Verification Vehicle.

However, if so though, where's the circumferential black aft portion of the Service Module? Painted on later? Or is there something else going on here?

FANTASTIC:

www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/apollo/vaisseaux/...

Credit: The consistently amazing "CAPCOM ESPACE" website

Regardless of all of the above, Thank You Mr. Cole!

“APOLLO MOON MISSION SEQUENCE 7

With splashdown and recovery, a national goal is achieved -- landing American astronauts on the moon and returning them safely to earth.”

Although I’ve been informed (by a reputable source) that this is by Henry Lozano, I still kind of think it’s by Gary Meyer. Actually, who cares, it’s outstanding.

Apollo 6 Command Module landed in the Pacific, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands at 4?46 PM, EST, April 4, 1968. Apollo 6 was the second unmanned flight of the Saturn V in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Lunar Landing Project.

Launch: April 4, 1968 7AM Complex 39 Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Impact Zone: 27°40’ N - 157°55’ W / 50 Nautical miles West of the scheduled impact area.

Onboard Carrier (USS Okinawa) 15 hrs 55 min GET

“Command pilot James McDivitt and lunar module pilot Russell Schweickart are shown in this drawing in the lunar module that they tested Wednesday. They entered through the docking tunnel.”

Another delightful rendition by Russ Arasmith, as usual, with rich & wonderful attention to detail. With that, note the stowed Portable Life Support System (PLSS) back pack (with the NASA logo) & two Oxygen Purge System (OPS) components behind the Astronaut in the docking tunnel. Apollo 9 was the first use/test of the Apollo Program's Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU)/PLSS/OPS ensemble inflight & ‘outside’.

Also, as was often the case with Arasmith works, there being a series/sequence of them, it bears a plate number, “5” in this case, at the lower left corner).

The official NASA caption/description:

“Cutaway of day three activities. Crewmen leave third team member in command module and enter lunar module through docking tunnel. One astronaut shown entering through tunnel while the other is already at one of two side-by-side standing stations in LM. The latter looks out of docking window.”

The above, with an immaculate version, along with the rest of the series, from/at the following.

The proprietor of this site, Mr. Jerome Bascom-Pipp, is EASILY one of the best, most honorable human beings I’ve ever come across:

apollomissionphotos.com/index_art_ap9.html

Credit: Jerome Bascom-Pipp/"Apollo Mission Control Photo Plus" website

Russell Arasmith, a full & rich life:

www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/westminster-ca/russell...

Credit: Dignity Memorial website

"NASA Manned Spacecraft Artist concept of Spacecraft Comparison."

An iconic illustration, and yet I've never even remotely/slightly/tangentially read/seen/heard anything regarding the mystery artist. Which leads me to cautiously think it's Gary Meyer. The lack of signature supports such, as it was pretty much the rule for his works. The time frame. And, it is part of the "S-63-XXX" family/series of photos, which is a stretch however.

We may never know. Although...the straight dark lines representing the Astronauts' eyes may be a clue...

Note the round windows of the Apollo Command Module.

Rare photograph of an early Command Module ‘chop shop’, with two of the clean-cut thugs, posing as Honeywell Manufacturing engineers, preparing to fence the stripped components, which include both a Translation Hand Controller & Rotation Hand Controller, a Stabilization and Control System (SCS) panel, an Attitude Set & Gimbal Display panel & Velocity Change Indicator panel. Even a coveted Flight Director/Atitude Indicator (FDAI), with a street value of least $275. Fortunately, these were all Block I Command Module components, only to become obsolete and of no value within several years. What looks to be the installed Translation Hand Controller is visible through the side window, equipped with its jail cell door observation window sliding panel.

Note also the chart recorder/plotter, which looks to be placed/positioned atop some sort of shelving or similar structure in the background. Also, the elevated floodlights, angled downward & possibly attached to scaffolding. Interesting.

“RONALD CHISENHALL”. Really? Obviously, the perps got a little carried away with the alias. I suppose to not be too plain/dull/vanilla, like say Jones, Smith, Carpenter, etc.

Or, I suppose it could conceivably be associated with the following, from the February 6, 1964 entry of “The Apollo Spacecraft - A Chronology”/NASA SP-4009. In fact, it explains the components prominently “on display” in the photograph:

“Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company reported it had developed an all-attitude display unit for the CM to monitor the guidance and navigation system and provide backup through the stabilization and control system. The Flight Director Attitude Indicator (or "eight-ball") would give enough information for all spacecraft attitude maneuvers during the entire mission to be executed manually, if necessary.

Honeywell News Release, "All-Attitude Display Produced By Honeywell For Apollo Spacecraft," February 6, 1964; Space Business Daily, February 24, 1964, p. 290.”

At:

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/v2p2c.htm

Finally, as I’m sure at least one of you is wondering, what is this Command Module designated as? A ‘boilerplate’ I think.

Who cares how impractical, impossible or even ridiculous it is - it’s by John Gorsuch AND looks like a giant Apollo Command Module. What more can you ask for?

From/at:

www.pinterest.com/pin/322992604512085738/

Credit: Dax Araya-Derosier/Pinterest

A slightly more descriptive ‘official’ caption, from both the 1963 & 1964 versions of this scene, both linked below:

“Artist Drawing by North American Aviation Inc. - After the third stage engine burns for the second time the Apollo vehicle is on its lunar trajectory. The adapter surrounding the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) is separated. Next the command and services modules separate leaving the LEM attached to the third stage.”

More precisely, this depicts commencement of transposition and docking maneuvers.

Something I'd never noticed before, the LEM's porch also appears to be folded down. Interesting. To me, that is.

Artwork most likely by the supremely talented Gary Meyer.

Both of these are excellent models that I'd love to build IRL sometime. Luis Pena's 2018 model is on the left, Hachiroku24's 2020 model is on the right.

Luis Pena:

www.flickr.com/photos/127520452@N04/27672364152/in/datepo...

Hachiroku24:

www.flickr.com/photos/hachiroku24/50255492518/