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Author
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Topic: Command module model with degree marks
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stsmithva
Member Posts: 1997
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-10-2021 04:13 PM
   
I got this command module model at a recent Heritage auction, and I'd appreciate any help anyone could provide. As you can see, it has markings for 20-40-60-80 degrees on the sides, and 360 degrees on the top for all around. The lines and numbers are carefully inscribed into the material the model is made of. On the bottom, someone has hand-inscribed "Equip. Sect. / Jim Arthur." I can't find any other appearance of such a model. I tried researching that name, but apparently there was a Jim Arthur Lovell involved in the Apollo missions, and I couldn't find mention of the other. I'd love to know if anyone has seen this model elsewhere, and more importantly what it would have been used for. It seems like those degrees would have been useful for noting specific locations on the CM, but I guess just on the outside.  
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4317
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-10-2021 07:12 PM
I recall seeing images of a full scale CM marked in this way which I suspect was used to test the flotation bags on top of the command module in the event it tipped upside down on splashdown: "stable 2". In my opinion, this model would have been used in small scale testing of such. |
PeterO
Member Posts: 421
From: North Carolina
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 02-11-2021 05:25 AM
The X dimensions appear to be vertical stations in inches above the bottom center of the heat shield. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4317
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-11-2021 01:03 PM
These aren't the images I recalled earlier but they do I think elude to the model in question. Dated Feb/May 1968, these were taken during development testing of the CM floatation bags. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 743
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 03-04-2021 12:34 PM
The photos show CM-007A, I think. 007 was a block 1 spacecraft that was later modified with a block 2 hatch. Note the small side windows unique to several block 1 spacecraft. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1364
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 03-12-2021 06:29 PM
I remember seeing this model in a 1960's film on Apollo. I can't recall the name of the film and I don't think it made it to video. But I'm sure of the markings.You have a unique item. |
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