posted 03-04-2012 05:00 PM               

I've visited the Proof Test Capsule lander in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I also had the chance to visit and photograph the Flight Capsule 3 in the Seattle Museum of Flight which was very helpful for seeing details (because it is nearly a bare lander structure).

I've been able to acquire a few NASA and Martin Marietta publications, and various academic papers with useful information. But I'm still on the lookout for more! For example measured drawings of the lander's internal equipment plate and the three main side-beams (with their myriad machined flanges and stiffeners etc.). Or the RTG wind covers, or the bioshield base and cap structures, or etc.!

Also, does anyone know of a Viking flight-type aeroshell, base cap or bioshield which could be visited? (Not the BLDT versions.) I've read rumors that Boeing has an aeroshell in storage somewhere.