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Author
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Topic: Apollo 7 main recovery parachute artifacts
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dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 04-16-2015 12:00 AM
   
Was an Apollo 7 parachute actually recovered? I have come across some alleged swatches of an Apollo 7 parachute. Some are attached to nice looking cards with descriptive information and another is embedded in Lucite. Nearly all of the presentations appear to be modern. Wouldn't a recovered parachute from an Apollo flight have been preserved and donated to the Smithsonian or some other museum instead of being cut up into small pieces? |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-16-2015 04:42 AM
Related threads on this topic: |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 04-16-2015 12:08 PM
Thanks. Evidently none of the Apollo 7 parachutes were recovered so any items claiming to be segments of an Apollo 7 chute are bogus. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-16-2015 07:54 PM
Walt Cunningham sold a section of one of the flown Apollo 7 parachutes in the 1990s. I suspect these pieces originate from Cunningham's section, though I've got no proof of that or connection to these pieces. I do recall the primary seller of these stating as such. |
Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 977
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 04-16-2015 11:06 PM
Item 238 in the Superior Fall 1996 auction was a large piece of white and orange "Flown Parachute Material," signed by Cunningham, also included were two pieces of shroud line. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-17-2015 02:52 AM
The crew reported the chutes properly detached from the capsule and then were observed to almost immediately sink below them as the capsule lay inverted (prior to up-righting). There is also no evidence from reviewing recovery images that any chute material ensnared the CM. |
Blaberus
Member Posts: 18
From: England
Registered: Nov 2006
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posted 04-17-2015 04:14 AM
Yes, these pieces of orange and white parachute material (which are being sold by well known dealer Paul Hartunian on eBay), were part of Lot 238 in a Superior auction in Fall 1996. The white piece was signed by Walt Cunningham. In the auction catalog it is stated that they were flown.... I purchased one of these pieces recently - perhaps I should ask for my money back? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-18-2015 09:25 AM
quote:
Originally posted by 4allmankind:
Walt Cunningham sold a section of one of the flown Apollo 7 parachutes in the 1990s.
To clarify, if you are referring to Lot 238 in Superior's October 1996 auction (as cited above), the lot description does not state the parachute fragments were from Walt's collection. Flown parachute material. A large piece of white (about 28x56") and orange (about 56") parachute material. The white piece is signed "Walt Cunningham Apollo 7". ALSO included are two pieces of shroud line included braided (72") and not braided (17") pieces. The lot is included in the Apollo 7 "Flown" section of the catalog, but for the benefit of the doubt, the description itself doesn't specifically state the parachute material was flown on Apollo 7. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-18-2015 09:46 AM
Robert, Wow! Does anyone know if they've since been marketed as coming directly from Walt Cunningham? I recall seeing it somewhere which is where the assumption came from that is was from him, as opposed to just being signed by him. |
barnstormer
Member Posts: 105
From: South Boston VA
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted 04-18-2015 10:33 AM
Back around 2004, wasn't there a big furor about someone who had a circa 1973 Apollo mission chute being offered for sale? Provenance and ownership issues were raised, but, in the end, the chute was determined to be authentic, the provenance and history and ownership chain were detailed, and the (then) current owner was exonerated of any wrongdoing. It involved two Apollo chutes that had been given to Cole Palen of Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome by the National Air and Space Museum. Then, sometime later one of them exchanged hands twice. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-18-2015 10:50 AM
Yes, and that particular chute is described in the thread Scott (SpaceAholic) posted above. Neither of those parachutes were from Apollo 7, though. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 04-18-2015 12:31 PM
This has gotten a lot clearer. Thanks for all the posts. I emailed Walt Cunningham to ask if he had ever sold any flown Apollo 7 parachute material. He said he had not and did not think the Apollo 7 chutes were recovered, though he was not absolutely certain they were not. With this and the posts above I think I now understand what the answer is to my original question. Cunningham signed some apparently flown Apollo parachute material from an unknown flight. The material was sold in an auction under Apollo 7 flown category. Now pieces have been cut from this section and are now being offered as Apollo 7 flown parachute swatches. I can see how the confusion could have occurred especially if Cunningham signed the item many years ago for someone, for instance, at NASA or an employee of a contractor and that person passed on and the item later became owned by someone else. I wonder what provenance was provided to support the claim the larger piece was flown on an Apollo flight. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-18-2015 08:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dtemple:
Cunningham signed some apparently flown Apollo parachute material from an unknown flight.
There is at least an equal probability it is not (space) flown as many aerial drop tests were performed of chutes.
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4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-25-2015 08:21 PM
Just curious to learn if anyone that owns one of these pieces was able to make contact with the gentleman currently selling them? |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 05-09-2015 12:42 PM
Can anyone point me to a site which as the video showing Apollo 7 from the moment of splashdown to the point where the parachutes sink? So far, all I have found are post splashdown scenes after the chutes sank. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-09-2015 03:50 PM
There are no such videos — 20 minutes elapsed between splashdown and recovery helo sighting. The intervening time contributed to non-recovery of the chutes. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 05-10-2015 10:02 PM
Thanks for the info. That explains why I could not find a video. All the comments here appear to settle my original question regarding the material which was being offered for sale on eBay - not from "7." Too bad, there is no way to know from which flight the original segment was flown. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-10-2015 11:27 PM
Or if it was even flown at all... |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 05-11-2015 05:15 PM
Yes Scott, I have to agree with you. I have studied all the recovery footage. All three parachutes from Apollo 7 sank. There were many, many drop tests. Every drop test used new parachutes, they were never (to my knowledge) reused. |
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