|
Author
|
Topic: LM spacecraft identification plate numbers
|
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 05-18-2015 12:40 AM
  
The Grumman lunar modules had a LM spacecraft identification plate located in the ascent stage on the midstep across from the forward hatch. Three identical plates were stowed onboard and given to crewmembers after the mission. Here is a list of the manned LM identification plate numbers I have found: - LM-3 / part LDW280-53000-1 / serial 033 / "FIRST FLIGHT"
- LM-4 / part LDW280-54000-1 / serial 001 / "1st LUNAR LM"
- LM-5 / part LDW280-54000-9 / serial 001 / "LUNAR LANDER"
- LM-6 / part LDW280-54000-23 / serial 001 / "1st LUNAR EXPLORATION"
- LM-7 / part LDW280-54000-5 / serial 001 / "AQUARIUS-ODYSSEY"
- LM-8 / ?
- LM-10 / part LDW280-60001-1 / serial 001 / "FALCON-ENDEAVOUR"
- LM-11 / part LDW280-60001-3 / serial 001 / "ORION-CASPER"
- LM-12 / part LDW280-60001-5 / serial 001 / "AMERICA-CHALLENGER"
The LM-7 plate, like the plaque on the LM ladder, has Ken Mattingly's name on it. Anyone know the numbers for LM-8 on Apollo 14? |
space1
Member Posts: 933
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
|
posted 05-20-2015 07:31 AM
LM-8 was LDW280-54000-19 (ref LDW280-54000 drawing). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 05-20-2015 11:23 AM
Thanks for that addition. Notice that it is the LM-6 ID plate (Apollo 12) that has the "first lunar exploration" description. |
Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 1210
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
|
posted 05-20-2015 11:24 AM
I took these two photos of the LM-4 ID plate at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY. 
|
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 05-20-2015 08:55 PM
The ID plates permanently affixed to the LM weren't coming back, so I wonder if they also had the crew names on them. Or maybe just the Grumman numbers. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 05-21-2015 01:13 AM
The Apollo 15 LM-10 identification plate affixed to the ascent stage can be seen in this pre-flight photo. It is very hard to read, but I see four words on the plate. Looks like "FINAL (something) ASCENT STAGE" to me."FINAL ASSEMBLED ASCENT STAGE" perhaps? That would suggest there is an ID plate on the descent stage as well. |
space1
Member Posts: 933
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
|
posted 05-21-2015 05:11 AM
It says "Final Assembly Ascent Stage," which is the name of that LDW280-54000 drawing.(Of course "final" in this sense means top level assembly, or last in the sequence of assembling the Ascent Stage.) |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 07-01-2015 08:57 PM
Apollo 11 photo KSC-69PC-0295 seems to show the location of what looks like the CM spacecraft identification plate at top left. I see "North American Aviation Inc" on the plate.But I don't see a similar plate in other CM photos. So maybe the plate is attached to something else. Is that some sort of protective cover around the hatch opening? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 07-02-2015 07:52 PM
Apollo 11 CM-107 is part number V36-000002-111 on the CM spacecraft ID plate. |
bklyn55
Member Posts: 390
From: Milford, CT
Registered: Dec 2014
|
posted 07-02-2015 09:01 PM
Stupid question, but how did they know exact launch and splashdown dates to engrave on the nameplates?
|
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 07-02-2015 09:15 PM
Not at all. The dates were added after the flights.The Apollo 13 CM plate includes Swigert's name and the correct launch date. The Apollo 13 LM plate includes Mattingly's name and the correct launch and splashdown dates. |
bklyn55
Member Posts: 390
From: Milford, CT
Registered: Dec 2014
|
posted 07-02-2015 09:53 PM
I assume you mean the "souvenir" plates were engraved after the mission. Does that mean the "real" plates attached during construction did not have dates? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 07-03-2015 12:23 PM
The ID plate in the Apollo 15 LM mentioned earlier did not have the crew names on it. I doubt if it had any dates on it either.The CM ID plates that the crews received are brass and do not look at all like the LM souvenir ID plates. |
space1
Member Posts: 933
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
|
posted 07-03-2015 12:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
Is that some sort of protective cover around the hatch opening?
Yes, that is a protective guard around the hatchway protecting the rubber seal and hatchway surface. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 03-31-2018 08:12 AM
Apollo 12 photo KSC-69C-8240 shows the identification plate in the LM-6 ascent stage. The PLSS for LMP Alan Bean can be seen secured to the LM floor. No crew names or dates can be seen on the ID plate. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 03-31-2018 08:45 AM
The ID plate in the command module was actually located near window 4. |
oly
Member Posts: 1464
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
|
posted 11-12-2018 05:54 PM
The real ID plates would not have crew names or dates, they would contain all relevant information pertaining to each vehicle or module. These plates would be affixed using rivets or high strength adhesive, ensuring that they could not come adrift during flight and become some kind of hazard. Today, most companies guard blank id plates to protect themselves. The production of these ornamental plates was a great PR action for Grumman. I don't know if any of the returned ID plates that were installed on Command Modules are still attached, they would make a cool trophy. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 11-12-2018 09:11 PM
Yes, the part number and the contract number can be seen on the ID plate in the Apollo 12 ascent stage photo above, in addition to "Final Assembly Ascent Stage" where the crew names are located on the souvenir plates. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 11-15-2018 12:19 AM
There is a red letter "D" in the name "McDivitt" on the souvenir Apollo 9 LM-3 ID plates. The red D refers to the D-mission. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 11-15-2018 10:31 AM
Apparently, there was a fourth souvenir Apollo 12 LM-6 ID plate flown to the moon. It is engraved with the name James C. Harrington. |
thisismills
Member Posts: 523
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 11-15-2018 02:02 PM
Until the sale of the "4th" plate from Apollo 12, it was believed that there were only three souvenir plates per mission. Apparently there are others that exist and have followed up a post here about that very topic. |
oly
Member Posts: 1464
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
|
posted 11-15-2018 09:55 PM
A quick online search reveals that there is more than one design of these Identification Plates, some bearing the blue and yellow Grumman logo, https://historical.ha.com/itm/transportation/space-exploration/apollo-9-lunar-module-flown-lm-3-spacecraft-identification-plate-directly-from-the-personal-collection-of-mission-lun ar-module/a/6075-40042.sand others with the black silhouette style logo. https://historical.ha.com/itm/explorers/space-exploration/apollo-17-lunar-module-flown-spacecraft-identification-plate-directly-from-the-personal-collection-of-mission-command-modu le-p/a/6033-41169.s |
thisismills
Member Posts: 523
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 11-15-2018 10:25 PM
Grumman changed their logo in 1970, which could explain the difference on the later LM plates. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 11-15-2018 10:49 PM
The souvenir Apollo 17 LM-12 ID plate may not have had the blue and yellow Grumman logo, but the Apollo 17 LM ascent stage did. |
thisismills
Member Posts: 523
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 11-15-2018 11:05 PM
Good catch, I wonder if that tells us anything about when the plates were made and/or if the souvenirs were processed through a different workflow.
|
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 11-15-2018 11:11 PM
LM-12 was shipped to KSC in June 1971.
|
thisismills
Member Posts: 523
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 04-09-2020 07:10 PM
Finally found another image of this style of LM spacecraft ID plate presentation, similar to the Apollo 12 one previously sold. This would be the 4th plate from LM-5 (Apollo 11) and is on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 04-09-2020 10:53 PM
Nice find. Didn't know there was a fourth one.Does anyone know what was written under the part number on the Apollo 14 LM-8 spacecraft ID plate? (The info is missing in the first post. The LDW number for LM-8 is in the second post.) Was it "ANTARES - KITTY HAWK" or something else? |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3208
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 04-10-2020 07:20 AM
The current (April 2020) RR Auction sale has an Apollo 16 LM spacecraft id plate gifted to a Grumman engineer. Makes you wonder how many examples were carried per mission, although if the number was high, I'm sure we'd have seen more examples on the secondary market by now. |
TLIGuy
Member Posts: 248
From: Virginia
Registered: Jul 2013
|
posted 05-02-2020 09:02 PM
Does anyone know what font type was used on the data plates? Any insight would be appreciated. |
oly
Member Posts: 1464
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
|
posted 05-03-2020 02:51 AM
Many of the plaques made during the Apollo program used Futura Typeface, which seems to have been the favored typeface for manuals, checklists, plackards and markings, and other typography.The typeface used by Grumman that makes up their logo and corporate details is another typeface, note the squared off "G", "M", and "C", with the "M" centre leg extending to the baseline in the Grumman font. |
TLIGuy
Member Posts: 248
From: Virginia
Registered: Jul 2013
|
posted 05-03-2020 05:46 AM
Thank your for the information. I was thinking Futura and for my purposes I will go with that. Interesting you point ou the differences in the Grumman font. Very subtle but something I did not see. Always a pleasure to learn something new. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 05-03-2020 02:14 PM
It says "Toggle Switch Handles" on the radioactive material caution sign seen near the ID plates. |
oly
Member Posts: 1464
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
|
posted 05-03-2020 07:35 PM
The critical toggle switches had radioactive phosphorescent tips designed to glow in the dark, much like the EVA handles on the command module. I believe the full text of the placard reads: Contains Radioactive Material
Toggle Switch Handles
Contain P(?) 147. 6MC
Max Per Handle
617 MC Total
Removal Of This
Label Is Prohibited |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3208
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 05-04-2020 05:50 AM
quote:
Originally posted by TLIGuy:
Does anyone know what font type was used on the data plates?
Any insight would be appreciated.
By the way, if you're going to create a replica of one of these plaques do please include some clear indication on it that it is actually a replica. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 05-04-2020 07:09 AM
LM-2, LM-9 and LM-13 on display might also have the ID plates. |
TLIGuy
Member Posts: 248
From: Virginia
Registered: Jul 2013
|
posted 05-04-2020 07:15 AM
I appreciate the concern but I'm only looking to use the plate as a possible template and want to replicate the correct font. The final piece will actually be printed and not an actual fabricated plate and will be noticeably different than an original. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3876
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 01-29-2024 02:01 AM
A flown Apollo 11 souvenir LM-5 ID plate (mounted on a wooden plaque) from the Armstrong family was sold at auction in 2018. There is a short video clip. |
advertisement