View allAll Photos Tagged commandmodule
“Two years in the making, NASA’s Apollo 11 spacecraft command module looked like this (right upper photo) Dec. 6, 1968, when it passed test and checkout at Rockwell’s Space Systems Division (then known as North American Rockwell’s Space Division), Downey, Calif. Lowered onto dolly, it was shipped to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., where it was launched July 16, 1969. Eight days and more than a million miles later, the command module returned its astronauts to Earth at almost 25,500 miles an hour. A bit charred from the 4,200-degree Earth entry temperatures, it is seen (lower right photo) at Rockwell’s Space Systems Division, as it underwent post test flight exams, which it passed with flying colors. Apollo 11 carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin A[l]drin, Jr. to the moon for the world’s first lunar landing mission.”
Mr. Blanning served as Media Relations Director at Rockwell International Corp. from 1992 - 1997, hence the 'title' info/date approximation.
Appropriate opportunity to share this fantastical link again:
3d.si.edu/apollo11cm/boxes/play-cm-2016-09-26/cm-exterior...
Isn’t it amazing...and fun?!?!?!
“Aerojet-General Corporation artist’s concept shows how the Apollo spacecraft’s Service Module engine will look firing during night flight. Coloration of the Service Propulsion System thrust chamber and skirt shows temperature ranging from 5000°F. at the chamber throat to 1200°F. at the skirt extension after a few seconds of engine operation. Glass filament is used in the thrust chamber area. The engine skirt is formed of titanium and columbium. Aerojet’s SPS develops in excess of 20,000 pounds of thrust, making it America’s largest and most powerful spacecraft rocket engine. The Service Propulsion System, produced for NASA’s Apollo spacecraft under contract to North American Rockwell Space Division, is capable of providing more than 35 separate firings of varying duration.”
8.5" x 11".
Compare/contrast. Interesting that the respective glowing areas of the two engines are inverted:
mobile.twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1076838618692493313/photo/1
Credit: SpaceX
Check this one out. No idea what the engine is and obviously not in flight, yet another totally different appearance:
qph.c7.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-099ffe22085d444e4d61a6c61a9...
Credit: Quora website
Despite its appearance, the photograph has not been folded, spindled or mutilated. The artist appears to have used the Impasto painting technique for the overall scene, with the CSM & SPS plume painted “normally”.
I think this is the work of George Mathis.
A unique & excellent comparison of common stages to both the Saturn C-5 and C-1B.
Note the absurdly multi-story - and I assume - top-heavy, exceedingly unsafe LEM design.
Command Module Hatch
Apollo Command Module
This Apollo Command Module to be flown, in 1975, when it was launched into earth orbit for the first-ever docking of a U.S. spacecraft with a spacecraft from the former Soviet Union.
I remember watching the docking on live television. It was a significant event in the development of truly international space exploration, and a unique moment of cooperation during the Cold War.
See NASA's Apollo-Soyuz home page here:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo-soyuz/index.html
The mission also provided an opportunity for American astronaut Donald K. "Deke" Slayton to fly in space. Slayton had been selected as one of the original Mercury astronauts, but due to a medical condition he never flew a Mercury mission. NASA's official biography of Slayton is here:
Apollo Command Module Mockup No. 18, under construction at North American Aviation Inc…Building 290 I assume…Downey, CA. Supposedly, November 28, 1962.
This is particularly cool to me, since it’s the “famous” early mockup that multiple Astronauts posed with, and is the subject of several of my other photographs, after it was completed of course. Luckily, this is possible because it’s identified in this photo on the displayed placard, which has other delightfully obscure information as well.
Note the cut-out for the Optical Unit Assembly…mockup that is. 😉 Also, the possible RCS fuel tank…mockups, two emplaced and one on the workstand/jig, in a custom-made cradle. And check out that nifty ladder, with visible roller, that traverses circumferentially around the capsule, riding the encircling framework.
From the placard:
"RESPONSIBLE ENGINEER:
J. MARKEL, DEPT. 695-514 (EXT. 46-3656)"
(You never know when/if a descendant might be searching online.)
A rare/wonderful coincidence & find.
A rabbit-hole moment if I may. A glancingly pertinent extract from NAA “APOLLO MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT”, SID 62-300 6, dated 31 August 1962:
“MOCK-UPS
The access doors are removed from the right hand equipment bay of mock-up 3. During the next report period, mock-up 3 will be shipped to NASA.
The latest spacecraft design information is being incorporated into mock-ups 2, 5, 8, 18, and 19. Information on the aft heat shield, compression pad fittings, and aft compartment frames of mock-ups 18 and 19 were released for fabrication. Metal couches will be used on mock-ups 2, 18, and 19. All engineering concerning mock-up 12 is released to manufacturing.”
At/From:
www.scribd.com/document/63799716/Apollo-Monthly-Progress-...
Credit: SCRIBD website
LOTS of good & obscure stuff at SCRIBD!
8.5” x ~11”, with an extremely fine satin finish.
Frank Stetz Special Collection Photo.
Frank Stetz served in the US Navy for several years and worked in the Graphics department at North Island San Diego. The photos in this collection were saved by Mr. Stetz and were taken by photographers from North Island and document the history of the Air Station.
SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
One of the many "Apollo Space Flight Vehicles" artist concepts produced as the Apollo Program evolved and progressed. This one also incorporates a first flight accomplished annotation, along with those planned. Note also what appears to be a blacked out line under the Saturn V "First Flight" notation.
Note also the alpha-numeric photograph identification being within the image, not in the white margin/border. This can be seen in multiple artist renderings during this time period, due to the re-issue of earlier renditions, to more accurately depict whatever changes had occurred, while still maintaining the overall content/appearance. Most likely, in the original publication of the photo, the blacked out area referenced an expected first manned Saturn V flight date.
Also:
“Artist concept of the Saturn V and the uprated Saturn I, Apollo space flight vehicles.”
Above description per that associated with S67-28065.
Excellent 1964 cutaway diagram of Chamber "B" of the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL), Building 32, Manned Spacecraft Center, prior to construction.
“LUNAR PLANE”...interesting.
I'm not certain, but I don't think an Apollo Command Module (CM) was ever suspended in this fashion. I don't even think a solo CM was ever mounted in Chamber B. CSM combos in Chamber A, yes, but not B. Something like that...maybe.
npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/85002810
Credit: Natural Park Service website
See also:
crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/crgis/images/6/65/1974_Chamber_B_drawi...
Credit: NASA Cultural Resources website
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Elevations%2C...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Isometric_Sec...
.png){kind=link}
Credit: Wikimedia Commons website
In this 1963 North American Aviation(?) artist’s concept, a Sikorsky HUS-1/UH-34D Seahorse recovery helicopter moves in - I guess to land - after the land/terrestrial ‘touchdown’ of the Apollo Command Module. Note the distinctly USMC-like appearance of the helicopter, despite the intentionally illegible markings. At the time, the HUS-1/UH-34D was the aircraft being used in the ocean recoveries of Mercury capsules.
One of five enlargements from a small sheet of Japanese space-themed stamps or labels from the 1960s or 1970s. See also:
One of five enlargements from a small sheet of Japanese space-themed stamps or labels from the 1960s or 1970s. See also:
“This Apollo Little Joe launch vehicle with a boilerplate version of the Apollo command and service module and escape tower atop rests on the launching pad at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, awaiting lift-off. This test is the first in a series of five unmanned missions to develop and demonstrate the launch escape systems in flight. Abort systems performance during the stresses of launch will be checked when the spacecraft and its booster vehicle are traveling at 600-900 mile-per-hour speeds.”
Much more informative:
Credit: Wikipedia
More "Little Joe" goodness at this amazing site:
georgesrockets.com/GRP/Scale/DATA/JoePhotos/JoePhotos.htm...
Specifically (a cropped version of this photo):
georgesrockets.com/GRP/Scale/DATA/JoePhotos/A-001/64-LJII...
“Artist drawing by North American Aviation, Inc. -- A sequence of maneuvers from right to left showing preparation for re-entry mode, of the command module.”
Beautiful 'predictive' artwork by the amazing Gary Meyer:
Fantastic:
Credit: Jeff Quitney/Vimeo website
“An excellent view of the Apollo 17 Command and Service Modules photographed from the Lunar Module “Challenger” during rendezvous and docking maneuvers in lunar orbit. The LM ascent stage, with Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt aboard, had just returned from the Taurus-Littrow landing site on the lunar surface. Astronaut Ronald E. Evans remained with the CSM in lunar orbit. Note the exposed Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay in Sector 1 of the Service Module. Three experiments are carried in the SIM bay: S-209 Lunar Sounder, S-171 Infrared Scanning Spectrometer, and the S-169 Far-Ultraviolet Spectrometer. Also mounted in the SIM bay are the Panoramic Camera, Mapping Camera and Laser Altimeter used in Service Module photographic tasks. A portion of the LM is on the right.”
Based on that LM portion, the photograph was taken by Cernan. This, along with many others taken by him during this mission, some, intentional yet subtle compositions, should have earned him some sort of recognition...by some photography/photographers body.
On the lunar surface, the narrow dark swath, with the isolated light-colored "peak" is the northeast region of Mare Undarum. Condorcet P is below it to the right, with Condorcet F directly behind (also with a dark mare-like floor).
The above description was also used for AS17-145-22254, which conveniently/lazily enough, is the number on the verso of the photograph.
Note the 103.8-inch non-retractable Yagi multiple element antenna, a component of the Coherent Synthetic Aperture Radar (CSAR), a major component of the Lunar Sounder experiment flown during the mission. The antenna was automatically deployed after the Spacecraft/LM Adapter (SLA) panels were jettisoned.
For the two to three folks out there that might be interested…yes, I’m now fairly confident that ever burgeoning viewership now merits my estimations to be doubled, tripled EVEN:
www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/experime...
Credit: LPI website
But, back to reality here. For the one, if that:
adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1973LPSC....4.2821P
Credit: SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System website
Tangentially, what I think is a damned good question posed:
space.stackexchange.com/questions/17615/what-is-this-on-t...
Credit: Space Exploration Stack Exchange website
A number of other in-flight photographs of Service Module exteriors also reveal the bubbling, which I off-handedly attributed to RCS thruster plume impingement in most cases. If I recall correctly, the National Geographic issue with Pierre Mion's wonderful depiction of Al Worden's deep-space EVA references such. But the areas seen/referred to in the Stack Exchange discussion are not in the direct path of the RCS thrusters. Possibly as a result of Launch Escape Motor exhaust?
“NEXT STOP: THE MOON -- McDonnell Douglas S-IVB rocket moments before its J-2 rocket engine ignites to propel the Apollo spacecraft out of its parking orbit about the earth, on toward the moon. S-IVB, the third stage of Saturn V launch vehicle, is built by McDonnell Douglas at Huntington Beach, California, facility of its McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company for National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Marshall Space Flight Center.”
It actually looks a little like the SA-500F...with the color scheme at the base of the service module.
One of the many stunning (and in my world, iconic) works by Gary Meyer.
“APOLLO MISSION
WSMR, N.MEX.
7 NOV 1963”
Pad Abort Test 1 (PA-1), the first abort test of the Apollo spacecraft, November 7, 1963.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad_Abort_Test_1
Credit: Wikipedia
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_pad_abort_test.jpg
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
When was the last…if ever…time you saw this at this resolution?!? George Gassaway, at his wonderful “GEORGE’S ROCKETRY PAGES” website, had a link to a reasonably sized version of it if I recall correctly. Very sadly, it’s no longer.
A wonderful, somewhat quaint artist's concept of PA-1. Although dated as being contemporary to the event, note that the boilerplate command module still has strakes:
richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/5868
richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/a45e252d7da5cc6...
Both above credit: "RICHES" website
“THE LONG BURN—At a height of about 1,000 miles, the Apollo service module engine begins its 4-minute and 25-second burn to build up a lunar mission reentry speed of almost 25,500 miles an hour. This is the longest burn ever performed by the service module engine, building up a thrust of almost 21,500 pounds. Spacecraft for the Apollo 4 flight was produced by North American Aviation’s Space Division, Downey, for NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston.”
By Gary Meyer? Less likely…Henry Lozano? Too early for Manuel Alvarez..I’d think. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Although the caption of this photograph is 'personalized' to apply to Apollo 4, the image (with an SPS burn this near to earth), I believe is also applicable to Apollo 6.
“APOLLO COMES HOME--Traveling at almost 25,000 miles an hour, the Apollo 4 spacecraft command module heatshield ablator is confronted with searing temperatures of about 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the anticipated speed and temperature expected on return from a lunar mission. Inside of command module, where astronauts will ride in future missions from the moon, will be no more than 80 degrees at its hottest. Spacecraft command and service modules are produced by North American’s Space Division, Downey, Calif., for NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston.”
Note the 'vertical' orientation of the negative pitch thrusters, this being the Block I design of the Command Module.
Beautiful work by Henry Lozano Jr.
"Flight verification vehicle A 14-135 support assembly Command Module optical alignment installation - tight overall view, right side relative to plate. MSO. Bldg. altitude chamber. (085-3)(SY) (103) "
So, I assume it must be M-11, and in its roll as flight verification vehicle, it's being used to test/confirm fit & function of the gizmo that'll be used to install, test(?), calibrate(?) the sextant & telescope? In the altitude chamber because of the delicate optics of the guidance & navigation system? To mitigate introduction of airborne debris/contaminants?
If so, I would've expected the Command Modules to arrive with that option package already installed, and maybe just the floor mats to be added at KSC. Along with of course, filling the tank(s) with gas.
NO actual idea. But that thing looks really cool, it's got a great art-deco sci-fi look to it, even the color of it is a 50’s sci-fi smoooooth.
Looks like most everything - RCS thruster orifices, windows, hatch(?), access panels(?) on the exterior of the Command Module are either decals or painted on.
Second only to Apollo 11 in fame, Apollo 13 was, when it was launched, seen as almost routine: Apollo 11 had put men on the Moon and Apollo 12 had proven it could be done twice. Few people outside of space enthusiasts and NASA were thinking much of Apollo 13 when it was launched on April 11, 1970. Onboard were the three crew: command pilot Jim Lovell (veteran of three previous spaceflights), lunar module (LM) pilot Jack Swigert, and command module (CM) pilot Fred Haise. Their destination was the Fra Mauro highlands on the Moon.
Other than a early engine shutoff on the second stage (which could have been more catastrophic than originally believed), the launch and everything required for Apollo 13 to go to the Moon went smoothly. On April 14, however, not long after a television broadcast--that was watched by no one outside NASA, as none of the networks were interested in carrying it--Mission Control requested Swigert turn on the stirring fans in the service module's oxygen tanks. What no one knew was that the insulation on the wires in Apollo 13's second SM oxygen tank were damaged: when Swigert switched on the fans, the wires shorted. This instantly ignited the oxygen tank, which exploded. While luckily the explosion was vented into space (which also snuffed the fire), it destroyed one oxygen tank and severely damaged the other. Apollo 13 was now in trouble.
No one knew what had happened; Lovell reported "Houston, we've had a problem," and at first it was thought that either the spacecraft had been hit by a meteor or it was an instrument problem. When Lovell spotted oxygen being vented to space, however, both crew and Mission Control knew that the situation was now desperate. There was no thought of landing on the Moon: now it was a fight just to survive. There had been some vague ideas about using the LM as a "lifeboat" for the crew, but it had never really been tried. Now NASA had no choice. To conserve as much power as possible, the CM was shut down and all three men moved into the LM.
Problem after problem began to crop up, each requiring something entirely new to be invented on the spot. Getting the crew back to Earth involved them moving to an new orbit and using the Moon's gravity to slingshot them home--but the LM's engine had to be used, as the SM's might've been damaged. (It was done successfully, and Apollo 13's crew set a record for the furthest human beings have ever gone from Earth--over 248,000 miles away.) Once that was done, the rising levels of carbon dioxide meant that a scrubbing system had to be devised using whatever could be found on the spacecraft. The crew's water had to be rationed, leading to Haise developing a urinary tract infection. Finally, the temperature in the minimally-operating LEM dropped to 38 degrees Fahrenheit: the crew, without any sort of cold-weather clothing, simply had to endure it.
But endure it they did, and all the innovations and improvisations by crew and Mission Control worked: Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on April 17. The near disaster spurred worldwide interest and concern for the astronauts, and for a short time, renewed interest in the Apollo program--though only four of the planned seven additional missions after Apollo 13 were flown, the others cancelled due to budget cuts. Neither Lovell, Swigert or Haise flew in space again; Swigert passed away in 1982.
Interest in Apollo 13, much like the Apollo program itself, waned after the program wound down. Lovell wrote a book in the early 1990s titled "Lost Moon", which spurred interest in a movie, "Apollo 13," which came out in 1995. This made the "successful failure" of the mission, in some ways, more well known than the success of the rest of the Apollo program.
After the mission, the only surviving part of Apollo 13--the Command Module, "Odyssey"--was disassembled and each part examined during the investigation into the accident. The capsule itself was reassembled and placed on display at the Kennedy Space Center; the interior was reassembled later and put in one of the "boilerplate" trainers and displayed at the Museum of Natural History at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1983, Odyssey was sent to the Museum of Air and Space in Paris, France, where it would remain until 1995. After the popularity of "Apollo 13" the film, Odyssey was brought home and moved to the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, where it was reunited with the interior, taken from the boilerplate. A 12-year restoration project resulted, and finally the complete Apollo 13 went on display at the Cosmosphere in 2007.
My 2020 trip was delayed and rescheduled due to coronavirus, but eventually a friend and I decided to go through the Midwest (where the museums were open). I looked into the Cosmosphere, and when I learned it had the real Apollo 13 (to say nothing of Gemini 10 and Liberty Bell 7!), my friend--who is a huge space enthusiast--was onboard for making a planned 3-day trip into a 6-day one. It was worth the extra days, mileage and sore butt to see the real thing. The restoration was beautifully done, and to be able to look inside and see where the real Lovell, Swigert and Haise sat on their mission--words cannot describe it.
"APOLLO 4 MISSION: SECOND SPS FIRING"
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1967...
www.drewexmachina.com/2017/11/11/apollo-4-the-first-fligh...
Credit: DrewExMachina website/Andrew LePage
There's a 10-second discrepancy in the duration of the second SPS firing between the above sites. In this rare instance, I favor the NSSDC data.
Early comparison of U.S. manned launch vehicles and their respective spacecraft, with Gemini/Titan excluded however. A little odd. The Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) does not yet look anything like its final configuration...along with the novel 'flip-top' apex of the Command Module (CM), truncated Service Module (SM) & diminutive Service Propulsion System (SPS) nozzle.
An AWESOME comprehensive compilation of this version, from this informative website:
www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=986
Credit: Aerospace Projects Review (blog) website
As a 1/6th scale model, this particular LEM design was used extensively in drop tests simulating a variety of potential lunar landing scenarios/dynamics, which are wonderfully & somewhat whimsically captured in the following video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2kJovevnPw
Credit: Jeff Quitney
Along with the supporting and superior summation/capture of early LEM design challenges and evolution:
forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=45198.0
Credit: NASA Space Flight Forum website
See also:
archive.org/details/1962-L-03827
archive.org/details/1962-L-07386
archive.org/details/1963-L-00552
crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/File:L-63-1559.jpg
Credit: NASA Cultural Resources website
archive.org/details/NIX_EL-2002-00374
archive.org/details/NIX-EL-2002-00400
archive.org/details/NIX-EL-2002-00446
Credit: Internet Archive website
“The crew compartment of the Apollo command module is inspected by Avco engineers before a honeycomb matrix of glass fiber is bonded to each section.”
Also:
“The crew compartment, one of four sections of the Apollo module, is inspected by Avco/RAD engineers. A honeycomb matrix of glass fiber will now be bonded to each section.”
archive.org/details/TNM_Aids_to_aerospace_-_Dow_1966_2017...
Credit: Internet Archive website
And:
twitter.com/pilliarscreatio/status/1293568722238660608/ph...
Credit: Gavin Price/X
Caution, impending SWAG:
Despite the apparent publication year of 1966 (based on the photo caption ID number), and the above linked Dow Chemical promotional brochure, the stage of construction of this particular Command Module (CM) must surely be earlier. Maybe ca. 1964/65 instead?
Therefore, disregarding such, and based on the distinctly ‘different’ appearance of the CM/SM umbilical interface area at the lower right corner of the hatch opening, (where three of the referenced honeycomb matrices have already been applied), and the clearly delineated rectangular mount position of the ‘surviving’ scimitar antenna (immediately to the right of the gentleman with his back to the camera), this is obviously a Block I CM.
So, I’m thinking it’s either CM-009 or CM-011, respectively flown on AS-201 & AS-202.
Or not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Regardless, I wonder where this work was performed. At Downey, as part of the overall NAA assembly flow? Also, note the patch on the overalls of the gentleman inside the CM, bearing “BONDING…” CHIEF? SUPERVISOR?"
Pertinent & excellent:
www.facebook.com/groups/261265912631524/posts/10212803766...
Credit: Mitchell Rothman/"NASA MANNED SPACE" FB group
"Midcourse maneuvers are performed to place the spacecraft into position for a proper entry into a precise, circular orbit, about 100-nautical miles (60 miles) above the lunar surface. At the proper time, the service module is ignited slowing the spacecraft so that it goes into the precise orbit."
Hand-highlighted areas are due to this photo having been used for news/press release purposes, and I'm assuming the printing technology of the time required it to enhance definition & delineation within the photo.
Gotta love the hi-rise, panoramic-windowed, highly impractical, surely hazardous, minion-appearance LEM configuration.
PictionID:53765472 - Catalog:14_032229 - Title:Apollo Program Details: Apollo Mock Up; Instrument Panels Date: 12/11/1961 - Filename:14_032229.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
1965 NASA 'reissue' photograph (due to the timeless styling, bold lines & 5-leg landing gear, no doubt) of the 1963 model-year variant of the docked CSM/LEM-LM combo.
“The Apollo 14 Command Module splashes down as the ten-day lunar landing mission comes to an end. The splashdown occurred at 3:04:39 p.m., February 9, 1971, approximately 765 nautical miles south of American Samoa less than a mile from their planned landing point.”
The photograph is on a seriously thick fiber-based paper. The weight/feel of it is that of the thickest "A KODAK PAPER" I've ever come across.
Original Appolo 9 command module ( complete with traces of after burn caused by re-entry ) Air and Space Museum - Balboa Park
"The Apollo 204 spacecraft is lowered to a truck today for transportation from Launch Complex 34 to the Pyrotechnic Installation Building at the Kennedy Space Center."
2/17/67"
See also:
i2.wp.com/www.drewexmachina.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/0...
Along with informative & well written (as always) reading at:
www.drewexmachina.com/2017/01/27/the-future-that-never-ca...
Credit: Drew ExMachina/Andrew LePage website
Mercury 7 Astronauts Scott Carpenter, John Glenn and Wally Schirra pose with an early Apollo Command Module mockup during a tour and inspection of North American Aviation's Space and Information Systems Division, Downey, CA.
To me, this looks to be Command Module mockup no. 18. See my linked photos as possible/probable confirmation.
A press release version of this photo is dated 20 March 1963.
Catalog #: Casson_0083
Title: Apollo Testing
Photo Credit: North American Aviation Inc., Space and Information Systems Division, Photographic Department
Year: 6/17/1965
Collection: Norm Casson Collection
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
On display at Kennedy Space Center
#apollo11 #space #lunarlanding #nasa #kennedyspacecenter #astronaut #saturnV #rocket #thefinalfrontier #commandmodule
Columbia's hatch is displayed separately, in the Apollo to the Moon gallery. airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/hatch-crew-apollo-11
Gorgeous artist’s concept of an early LEM/CSM design (ca. 1962), depicting the LEM shortly after undocking from the CSM, prior to PDI. Superior artwork, the shading, dramatic lunar terrain and overall attention to detail is amazing.
I don't see any signature(s); however, based on the others in this 'series', it certainly looks to be the meticulous work of Ludwik Źiemba, et al.
8.5" x 11".
Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, with his ride..."Spacecraft 107, alias Apollo 11, alias ‘Columbia.’ The Best Ship to Come Down the Line. God Bless Her."
Are those low-top canvas Converse All Stars he's wearing? Stylin’ if so!
airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/apollo-11-writings-wall
AWESOME...yet again.
Also:
Michael Collins sits in the open hatch of the Apollo 11 Command Module after its return to the MSC's Lunar Receiving Laboratory for detailed examination.
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/ap11-S69-4549...
Spacecraft: Apollo 9 Command Module, "Gumdrop." Original, flown March 1969 on loan- -Image from the SDASM Curatorial Collection.Note: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.)--Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Apollo 13 Command Module ‘Odyssey’ returns home on three good parachutes.
And/or:
The Apollo 13 spacecraft heads toward a splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean. The Apollo 13 Command Module splashed down in the South Pacific at 12:07:44 p.m., April 17, 1970. Note the capsule and its parachutes just visible against a gap in the dark clouds.
spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo13/html/...
www.universetoday.com/119921/13-more-things-that-saved-ap...
Credit: UNIVERSE TODAY website
“Command Service Module for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Apollo 11 mission is being moved from the workstand for mating to the Spacecraft Launch Adapter at the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building.”
"Saturn 5 Display G. L. Higdon, of P&UE (left) George C. Rogers (Brown Eng.) (right)”
3/27/64"
All of those wonderful models!!!
Hangar 135, Ellington Air Force Base, sometime during 1963.
Quite the assortment of no longer needed items, ingloriously stored in the corner. From left to right, I think they’re; the Big Joe (Big Joe 1) capsule (farthest back), a wrapped unidentified Mercury capsule (possibly from a Little Joe test flight?), BP-25 (maybe BP-1?), maybe BP-25’s (BP-1’s?) forward heat shield, an unidentified Mercury parachute/drop-test boilerplate capsule, and last, but not least, the exotic, NAA-manufactured, ‘JFK co-star’ concept lunar lander.
The large machine along the wall, to the left of the lunar lander is a Cincinnati mechanical press brake, a machine used for bending sheet metal & metal plates. So, fabrication of aircraft/aerospace parts was performed here? As part of making repairs? Modifications? Interesting.
In front of the covered Mercury capsule is a radial drilling machine/radial drill press, used for drilling, boring, reaming, and thread cutting, particularly on large or heavy workpieces that are difficult to move.
The above has caused me to rethink what transpires in hangars. Ignorantly & passingly, I’d vaguely considered maintenance & repairs, but not to a degree that requires press brakes & radial drill presses. Those would seem to be associated with construction. Then again, who’d have considered them housing above-ground pools with boilerplate capsules in them???
Image at/from:
share.google/161JXGTuROngSelLK
Credit: DVIDS website
A similar drop-test Mercury capsule:
airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/boilerplate-capsule...
Credit: NASM website
“APOLLO RECOVERY—Forward compartment of Apollo spacecraft command module shows main parachutes, drogue chutes and their containers, reaction control system engines (covered and ready for flight), and pilot mortar. Assembled and checked out at North American’s Space Division clean room, the spacecraft is shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for mating with the Saturn V launch vehicle.”
Based primarily on the NAA photo numbering when compared to other photos, and most features matching up quite well with those in the following photos, I think it's CM-017:
A superlative site btw:
www.americanspacecraft.com/pages/apollo/A-4.html
Credit: A Field Guide to American Spacecraft website
roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/images/imagefull-3139.png
Another good view:
roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/images/imagefull-3137.png
Above credit JSC 'Roundup Reads', at:
roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/pages.ashx/747/Rocketing
Also:
airandspace.si.edu/webimages/collections/full/A1970025400...
airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/images/collection-...
Credit: NASM website
Museum of Flight, Seattle, Sept. 2019. What a thrill to be in the presence of this historic spacecraft! I set the camera, photo by a kind fellow attendee.
Catalog #: Casson_0022
Title: Apollo Capsule - Escape test
Collection: Norm Casson Collection
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive