[Apollo 11]

FLOWN Apollo 11 Flight Plan sheet—Detailing Preparations for the First Lunar Landing

Auction Closed

July 26, 06:15 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

[APOLLO 11]

FLOWN sheet from the Apollo 11 Flight Plan, Part No. SKB32100080-350, S/N 1001, p. 3-65/66, printed recto & verso. [Houston, Texas: NASA, Manned Spacecraft Center, Mission Operations Branch, Flight Crew Support Division, July 1, 1969].

10 1/2 by 8 inches. Punched at left margin. Several pre-flight manuscript notations to both sides in fine-tipped black felt pen, in an unknown hand. This lot will be accompanied by a Typed Letter Signed from BUZZ ALDRIN.

SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY BUZZ ALDRIN IN BLUE BALLPOINT PEN: “FLOWN TO THE MOON ON APOLLO XI/BUZZ ALDRIN.”

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

DETAILING PREPARATIONS FOR THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING

The two pages of this sheet refer to the tasks the crew and Mission Control needed to perform just prior to the undocking of the Lunar Module (LM) from the Command and Service Module (CSM) in preparation for their descent to the lunar surface.

BUZZ ALDRIN'S provenance letter reads, in part: "Page 3-65 described the tasks to be performed by the crew and Mission Control Center in Houston (MCC-H) just prior to the undocking of the Lunar Module from the Command and Service Module (CSM). These tasks included having Mike get the CSM/LM stack into position for undocking. Neil and I had to put on helmets and gloves and do a pressure test for the cabin. While Mike was establishing the proper state vector for the CSM/LM stack, Neil was checking the gyroscopes in the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) as I was checking the Abort Guidance System (AGS) in the LM.

Page 3-66 continues the process of working towards undocking. Mike stowed the flight plan, put on his helmet and gloves, started up the Stabilization and Control System (SCS) as a backup for the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), and used spacecraft mounted gyros nicknamed 'BMAGs' in the event the AGC failed. Mike then waited for the Go/No Go order from Neil. During the wait, he made sure that the maneuvering engines were set to not fire the roll thrusters, that the tunnel vent was shut (so as not to depressurize the Command Module), checked to see that the telemetry information was being received via VHF antenna, and then maneuvered into the docking attitude. Meanwhile, Neil corrected for any drift in the guidance gyros, loaded that data in the Digital Autopilot (DAP), pressurized the thrusters, and tested the Rendezvous Radar (RR) and Descent Propulsion System (DPS) that would land us on the Moon. I set up the LM computer to get it updated with instructions for the landing or for an abort from Mission Control. I also set up the communications and telemetry antenna to optimize the signal during descent. At the same time, Mission Control in Houston uplinked and fed data to the computers on both spacecraft to sync both systems for the descent to come.

This Flight Plan page 3-65/3-66 is one of the few objects carried into lunar orbit and is 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: NASA, Manned Spacecraft Center, July 15, 1969, pp. 2 & 82, listing the complete flown Apollo 11 Flight Plan

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