posted 04-12-2021 03:49 PM               

Today, I chased this up with the chap who was selling it. I asked him if he could provide me more detail and the information he provided is as follows:

Yes I had two spools of wire from Apollo. Both spools were shielded wire. One had three inside conductors that were nickel plated.

The other spool had one inside conductor that is silver plated... [from] Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was one of the main hardware supplier for the Apollo space program... They had a inventory disposal store for very many years where they sold surplus.

I bought the two spools from a man that got them there at the same time as Apollo. Both spools had a Apollo project number marked on them I do not have cross reference for those numbers.

posted 04-13-2021 08:33 AM               

Are there any identifying markings on the outer sleeve such as MS part number?

The spools do not appear to have any identifying information about part number or wire gauge, which is something that aerospace materials use to identify them against common electrical wire.

Somebody else may be able to provide better information, but I was under the impression that the Lunar Module used kapton shielded wire for weight saving. The light weight Kapton had a redish or gold outer colour, but not always (and later became a serious problem for both military and civilian aircraft manufactured in the late 60's and 70's.)

I am not aware of the CM and SM wire type but feel that the raw stock wire would have identifying marks from the manufacturer such as part number and wire gauge number so ensure that aerospace material was being used.

posted 04-13-2021 09:35 AM               

It feels very smooth and glides easily through my fingers, if this helps.

No other markings, sadly.

However, here is a pic of one end close up, the shielding wire, to me, looks gold?

posted 04-13-2021 10:45 AM               

The lack of identification is troubling, aircraft and aerospace wiring have had identifying marks since the use of AN and MS part numbering systems as a way to prove that the material complies with standards.

It does not look to be Kapton insulated wire.

It looks more like Teflon coated wire, which when compared to plastic coated wire, has a much thinner outer coating that reveals the texture of the underlying wire shield that can be seen in your last image.

However, I believe that Teflon coated wire did not enter use in the aerospace industry until the mid-1980s, as it was designed as a replacement material for Kapton, which was found to develop embrittlement and cracking of the insulation material when it aged. (it has been accredited to many aircraft accidents, including a suspected connection to the Swissair Flight 111 loss).

As I mentioned previously, The Lunar Module program is well known for the weight saving program, one of the areas that weight was cut was via the use of lightweight wire and small wire gauge. Following the Apollo 1 fire, additional attention was given to reducing the weight of the wiring of the module because all switches, components, and connections were hermetically sealed, and the wire weight was again reduced by making all wire routes as short as possible. Therefore, the wiring used in the LM has a red/gold appearance unless it was used in high temp areas. Even the LM cabin utility light had a gold coloured coiled power cable.

I am not sure about the command and service module wiring, perhaps someone with access to flight hardware could describe the type of wire used.

Before the introduction of Kapton and Teflon, aerospace wiring used a fabric insulator on multi-core wire that has a wax cotton appearance.

The alternative was a plastic-coated wire, however, this is not used in areas that experience extreme temps or vibrations and I suspect would have been rejected by aerospace manufacturers building rockets, it also has a higher weight, and when you consider how much wiring there is a rocket, significant weight savings can be made using the lightweight materials.