I really like this cue card because some of the issues it deals with – such as Oxygen, CO2, Glycol, and Cyro – uses instrument readouts found on Apollo Command Module Main Control Panel 2F, and an unflown example of a block 1 version of this panel is in my collection. The CM Panel 2F controls the Cryogenics and Environmental System controls and is positioned in front of the CM pilot and LM pilot.
In the photo below, taken prior to launch, you can see the Apollo 9 crew with their checklists and cue cards as they prepare for the mission.
Star charts like this were used on every lunar landing mission to orient the LM just prior to liftoff. The star chart is dated for a launch date of 11 April 1970 (Apollo 13), and was to be used in case the Lunar Module had to leave the moon's surface within 2 hours after landing (TD+2 means Touchdown + 2 Hours).
Each Lunar Module carried two similar star charts – this one for an immediate liftoff, and another for liftoff after the stars had precessed across the sky during their stay on the moon. This star chart was used in the Lunar Module Simulator during the training for Apollo 13.
My friend Larry McGlynn has written an excellent two-part overview of the star charts of Apollo. Links here: Part one and part two.
This manual lists the events that occurred during the Saturn V launch and has specific steps to be carried out by the flight crew. Sections cover boost preps, launch trajectory, launch aborts, boost, orbit insertion and orbital check-outs, TLI preps, and booster (S-IV-B) separation. An emergency section printed on pink paper covers the MODE I to IV aborts. The last sections cover Earth re-entry procedures in the event that that the flight remained in Earth orbit and did not travel to the moon.
Since today is the 40th anniversary of the splashdown and recovery of Apollo 11 in the Pacific Ocean, I am thrilled to have a guest post by Bob Fish, author of the book Hornet Plus Three: The Story of the Apollo 11 Recovery. I enjoyed this book very much.
Bob is a Trustee and the Apollo curator for the USS Hornet Museum, which is located in Alameda, CA. The Hornet recovered both 11 and Apollo 12 in 1969. The USS Hornet Museum includes a number of very unique artifacts - Apollo 14 Mobile Quarantine Facility, flown Apollo command module (Block-1 unmanned), Biological Isolation Garment, SH3D Seaking helicopter.
The public is generally aware of President Richard Nixon's activities during the Apollo 11 recovery process only during the widely-televised "welcome home" ceremony for the three astronauts. The reality is different...
Here's Bob’s account of what happened:
On July 23, the President and his party (which included Secretary of State William Rogers, National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, Apollo 8 astronaut Colonel Frank Borman, White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman, White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler, and two others) flew from Honolulu to Johnston Island aboard Air Force One. There, the entourage transferred to two HMX-1 squadron helicopters and were ferried a couple hundred miles south to the USS Arlington, a Navy major communications relay ship. The presidential helicopters landed on the ship's antenna deck at 5:30pm (ship time) and shortly thereafter, President Nixon spoke to an assemblage of crewmen. He later toured the ship, chatted with many sailors, and had a light dinner before turning in for the night. Photo: President Nixon's arrival onboard the USS Arlington as he walks with CO Captain Hugh Murphree.
The group arose early the next morning and flew over to the USS Hornet by HMX-1 helicopter, arriving less than an hour before Columbia splashed down. He watched the recovery operation from the ship's island (superstructure) before descending into hangar bay 2 for the welcome home remarks. Just minutes after that televised ceremony, watched by 500 million people, President Nixon and his group departed the ship and flew back to Johnston Island. They boarded Air Force One and began the next leg of their worldwide tour. All in all, Nixon had been in the recovery area for about 18 hours with just the three most historically-eventful ones on the USS Hornet.
President Nixon was in very high spirits the entire time. During his stay on the Arlington, he spent the night in the Commanding Officer's stateroom. After the group had left the morning of the splashdown, Captain Hugh Murphree walked into his cabin and found a handwritten note from the president, scrawled across the "plan of the day". Click image to enlarge.
On the Hornet, the President was clapping people on the back, swapping jokes with the sailors, etc. It was not just about "politics" though he was keenly aware this amazing technological and scientific achievement placed the US in a position over the Soviets for world leadership. As a former naval officer, he really enjoyed being on Navy ships again. And, he was in the middle of the Pacific, away from most of the press, all the protestors, the spin-doctors of DC etc.
Thanks Bob for sharing the story and images on such an important anniversary.
This cue card was from the personal collection of Fred W. Haise, Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot.
The information that Haise supplied about the card reads:
"This cue card was carried around the moon on the flight of Apollo 13 during April 11 to 17, 1971. This card was positioned on the instrument panel with Velcro during the launch to be used in the event of a Mode III abort. This abort mode became available in the period of launch just before achieving the Abort-to-Orbit capability. On the cards are blanks to be filled in for a manually executed SPS retrograde maneuver such as Time Of Ignition (TIG), Burn Time (BT), Pitch attitude, Ground Elapsed Time (GET) to reach 300k feet altitude, Pitch attitude reaching .05G, and the time for Drogue parachute deployment. The burn was to change velocity by 6999.9 feet per second to assure an Atlantic splashdown short of the African continent. We did not have to use this card but did have to deal with a much more complicated abort case on Apollo 13."
These Apollo News Reference Manuals were used by journalists who covered the Apollo program. It took me four years to acquire a pair as these manuals have become highly sought after. The pair include almost 500 pages of in depth detail about the Apollo spacecraft in the words of the contractors who built them.
Chapters include: Crew Systems, Displays and Controls, Docking, Earth Landing, Electrical Power, Environmental Control, Launch Escape, Reaction Control, Service Propulsion, Stabilization & Control, Telecommunications, Guidance & Navigation, Space Suit, Automatic Checkout Equipment, Kennedy Space Center Operations, Training Equipment, Test & Reliability, Manufacturing, Launch Vehicles, Mission Description, Crew Personal Equipment, Propulsion, Electrical Power, Lighting, PLSS, LM Anatomy, Biographies and more.
Model BEFORE (see below for after)
I purchased a beat-up Grumman LM contractors model on eBay. I had always wanted one and watched for a few months before the right one became available.
Fortunately, Andy Lagomarsino agreed to work on the model and bring it up to pristine condition.
Learn more about what Andy does to restore these models.
When I sent him the model, Andy noted that it needed:
A good cleaning
The base needed to be polished up
Ascent stage was missing one of the two vhf wire coil antennas.
Missing about half of the 16 RCS jets.
Missing both the S-band and rendevous radar dishes.
The flag decal on the descent stage was badly deteriorated.
All of the color on the navigation lights appeared faded and needed to be retouched.
Numerous areas on the black shaded portions of the descent stage needed to be recolored
The legs were bent
(Shall I go on?)
Now it looks terrific. (Thanks Andy.)
The model now sits under a custom plexiglas cover as a showcase of my Apollo Artifact collection.
Andy is the foremost expert and restoration specialist on the Lunar Module contractor model and does amazing work. I highly recommend him if you need your model spruced up.
This is a support truss from the lunar module.
It is amazingly light. It must be close to (or even less than) one pound, but I don't have a scale that is that small. Comparing my body weight with and without the truss is negligible.
The truss is 21 inches long and 1 3/8 inches diameter. There is a very bold and clear stamp in red ink on both sides with part # LDW280-18847-19 A3.
Each end fitting is attached with 12 pieces of tiny hardware which are each sealed with a sealer. Curiously, it seems that each of the (24 total) hardware items are each individually stamped with a red inspector stamp (#621) and each of the main truss part number stamps is folowed by another inspector stamp #1459. The truss ends that are into the tubing are also cleanly sealed with some type of composite sealer.
