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Forum:	Hardware & Flown Items
Topic:	Vintage NASA flight simulator chair

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by p51: [B]Beats me what it is, but that on/off switch underneath sure isn't from the 1960s... This had to have been used well after the moon landings.[/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER>T O P I C     R E V I E W</CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>stsmithva</TD><TD>I'd appreciate any information cS members might be able to offer about this item in my collection:<center> <IMG SRC="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1684/10073219/24649567/411545007.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1684/10073219/24649567/411545002.jpg"> </center>As you can see, it's a basic sturdy 1960s office chair, but with some interesting hand controls carefully bolted and welded on. They seem to be the kind of <A HREF="http://history.nasa.gov/diagrams/ad008.gif" TARGET=_blank>translation and rotation controls</A> used on the Apollo Command Module and Lunar Module. (The T-like translation control is very similar to those on Apollo, while the handle of the rotation control seem to have been repurposed from another source.)<center> <IMG SRC="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1684/10073219/24649567/411545003.jpg"> </center>There is more information about these kind of controls on the excellent <A HREF="http://www.space1.com/Artifacts/Apollo_Artifacts/apollo_artifacts.html" TARGET=_blank>Historic Space Systems</A> website.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>stsmithva</TD><TD>It has an old NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Move Identification sticker on the back, but the only other provenance I have is that it was rescued after being put out for the trash here in Virginia. (The seller told me that the translation control used to have a flexible gasket, but it had come off.)There is also a metal box with inputs and outputs attached to the bottom.<center> <IMG SRC="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1684/10073219/24649567/411544999.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1684/10073219/24649567/411545005.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1684/10073219/24649567/411545004.jpg"> </center>It's been tempting to play along when viewing Apollo documentaries and movies, like this scene from "Apollo 13", but so far I've resisted.<center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tefgq4q372Y?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

"If Steve can't dock this thing, we don't have a mission."

I'd love to hear anything from first-hand knowledge to theories. Thanks!

Jurg Bolli

I have no information on this, but it is one heck of a cool chair!

stsmithva

Tell my wife! When I first got it, someone said it was a conversation starter, and she replied that the conversation would start with "Why are you married to him?"

garymilgrom

Wow! Nice find Steve. A few comments:

You must have interesting neighbors!

An advanced Russian development of their stand-up lunar lander?

So THAT'S how the CDRs practiced at home.

The 9 pin connector near the TX cable might be for a monitor. And nice comment from the wife! Good luck finding out this interesting item's past.

space1

I saw a very similar chair at a school in Texas that had gotten some surplus NASA gear. I believe it is Shuttle era, for Manned Maneuvering Unit training. The interface box may have tied into a visual display system.

stsmithva

Thank you very much for the leads. If the interface box on the bottom was to tie into a visual display system (monitor), that would make it a bit more advanced than Apollo-era simulators. Does that mean that the box contains a computer with the simulator (?) program within?

I might try to find an old monitor, and the right connection and power cords, and see what happens when I turn it on.

The MMU training sounds like a good possibility.

Can anyone by any chance help identify the T-like translation control? What were ones like that built for, and when? It really looks exactly like the one used at 1:19 in the clip above. (Not that "Apollo 13" is a documentary, but I believe they were careful with the hardware.)

I'm just wondering if that part could have been built for an Apollo CM and then used for a trainer (MMU or other) years later.

space1

I believe these translation and rotation controls are purpose-built for trainers. I have a very similar translation control from the shuttle era - a good industrial grade unit, but not flight quality.

holcombeyates

Great setup and a brilliant quote from your wife!

Nice piece of hardware. I think this looks like the rendezvous and docking console for the rear of the space shuttle cabin looking into the cargo bay. The CDR would use it to rendevous with satellites, ISS, etc.

One of those joysticks or similar came up for auction at Bonhams space auction between 2010 or 2012.

It would be fascinating to see what happens when you plug it in. A late 70s or early 80s computer might just fit inside.

space1

Here is the similar translation control unit that I have (found on eBay many years ago). It was made by Measurement Systems, Inc. Very good commercial quality, but not made to the same specs as the flight hardware.

p51

Beats me what it is, but that on/off switch underneath sure isn't from the 1960s... This had to have been used well after the moon landings.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

Wonder if you can hook up the controllers to a rudder, then tie a couple of weather balloons to the chair...

garymilgrom

quote:
Originally posted by p51:
...but that on/off switch underneath sure isn't from the 1960s.

I think that on/off switch could be from the 60s, it looks like a typical rocker switch available when I was using similar items in the late 60s.

Robert Pearlman

The history behind this chair is now known. Quoting Bonhams' July 2016 auction catalog (Lot 59W):

This "robotics chair" was used at Johnson Space Center during the early days of the space shuttle program to train astronauts on remote maneuvering systems operations. This meant one of two things, depending on what software was being used.
The astronaut could view a screen that showed a virtual Shuttle Remote Manipulator System - the famous 50-foot-long "Canadarm" manufactured in Canada and used to lift satellites out of the cargo bay, or retrieve satellites already in orbit for repair. (The most famous example of this was the re-focusing of the Hubble Space Telescope, which ensured decades of awe-inspiring pictures.)
The translational hand control on the left controlled the hand (or "end effector") so it could grapple or release items, while the rotational hand control on the right controlled the pitch, roll, and yaw of the "wrist joint" near the end. This simulated what astronauts in orbit would experience, using similar rotational and translational hand controllers in the orbiter's aft flight deck flight crew station.
Using different software, this same chair was used to simulate the use of thrusters so the space shuttle could maneuver for docking. This first occurred during the STS-71 mission in 1995, when the shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir. For the remainder of the space shuttle program, many astronauts arrived at, or left, the International Space Station using the docking maneuvers practiced years before in this simulator.

SpaceAholic

Or perhaps only a prototype for a mature simulator crew members actually trained on.

stsmithva

Actually, soon after I posted the pictures of my chair, I received an e-mail from a longtime collector and dealer in space hardware, who said that an acquaintance of his would like to talk to me about it. I called him, and it turned out he had worked with the chair decades ago and was able to tell me plenty of information about it. I realize now I should have posted a follow-up. Once again collectSPACE came through!

quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
Or perhaps only a prototype for a mature simulator crew members actually trained on.

And thank you for that picture I hadn't seen before. NASA did later realize that they didn't need a dedicated piece of furniture, and it would be easier to just clamp the controllers into a desk. But my source said that astronauts definitely trained on that chair, using software running on the computer attached below.

onesmallstep

Good luck with the auction selling your chair! I know it would make a nice display for an individual/museum perhaps pairing it with actual shuttle simulation software viewed on a screen. Sort of a pre-VR (virtual reality) exhibit.

Chariot412

Here are a few photos of the ROBoT Canadarm simulators now at Johnson Space Center:

ROBoT sim on the ISS mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (B9)
the sim in the astronaut office
the sim we used during HERA X

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