Space Exploration

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Property from the Buzz Aldrin Family Trust

[Apollo 11]

LUNAR SURFACE FLOWN Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Checklist Sheet SUR-19/20

Lot Closed

July 18, 02:22 PM GMT

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20,000 - 30,000 USD

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Lot Details

Description

[Apollo 11]


LUNAR SURFACE FLOWN Checklist Sheet, pages SUR-19 and SUR-20, from: Apollo 11 LM Lunar Surface Checklist, Part No. SKB32100074-363, S/N 1001,[Houston, Texas: NASA, Manned Spacecraft Center, Mission Operations Branch, Flight Crew Support Division, July 1969.]


8 x 5½ inches, printed recto and verso. Punched at left margin. Accompanied by a Typed Letter Signed from BUZZ ALDRIN.


Inscribed in blue ballpoint pen, “Used on the lunar surface on Apollo XI” and SIGNED BY "BUZZ ALDRIN"

Directly from the Personal Collection of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin

LUNAR SURFACE FLOWN APOLLO 11 CHECKLIST SHEET DETAILING THE SWITCH PROCEDURES NEEDED AFTER THE FIRST AND ONLY EMERGENCY LIFTOFF DRILL TO TAKE PLACE ON THE MOON.


BUZZ ALDRIN'S provenance letter reads, in full: "On July 16th, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, and I lifted off from Pad 39A at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on our journey to perform humankind's first landing on the Moon at the Sea of Tranquility.


This sheet, containing pages SUR-19 and SUR-20, are schematics of the circuit breaker panels 11 and 16 in the LM cabin, respectively. The schematics show how each circuit breaker should be set in Eagle after powering down from the simulated countdown, rehearsing emergency liftoff and return to Command Module Columbia if necessary. We were the only Apollo crew to rehearse emergency liftoff from the lunar surface after landing. 


Panel 11, shown on page SUR-19, was located on Neil’s side of the cabin. The switches to be closed were black in color and the switches to be opened were white in color. This panel provided power to various subsystems such as the Reaction Control System (RCS), Instrument Displays, window heaters, guidance, Environmental Control System (ECS), communications, and computers.


Panel 16 was on my side of the cabin, shown on SUR-20. While Panel 16 powered up the same major systems, it powered up different subsystems. The circuit breaker switch named “Eng Arm” on Row 2 under “Stab/Cont,” or Stabilization and Control, is the switch that would later break off at some point during our time working inside the cabin while on the lunar surface. On this sheet, it is in the opened position after we have powered down from the liftoff procedures. Without the circuit breaker in the closed position, we would not have been able to fire the ascent engine. I was later able to use my felt tip pen to push the circuit breaker in and arm the ascent engine for liftoff from the Moon. 


This Lunar Surface Checklist page 'SUR 19/20' is one of the few objects carried to the lunar surface and is also a rare example of an astronaut flight-certified object used during our mission to be the first humans to land on the Moon."


REFERENCES:

NASA. Apollo 11 Stowage List. Mission AS 506 CM 107/LM-5. Houston, Texas: Manned Spacecraft Center, July 15, 1969, pp 37 & 58