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Author
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Topic: FS: Apollo 13 flown spacecraft components
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stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-21-2016 10:38 PM
   
Here are three pieces from Odyssey, the Command Module in which the crew of Apollo 13 returned safely to Earth. There is a large piece of Kapton foil, a hatch plug removed to gain access to certain areas within the spacecraft to deactivate systems after recovery, and rarest of all, a metal screw with tiny NASA identification characters on the head.   They come with a 5x8" card with a typed description, hand-signed by NASA photographer Dick Williams. Throughout the Apollo program, he was one of the first to get to the spacecraft, and provenance certificates signed by him are almost as good as those from astronauts. Auctioneers and dealers such as RR, Farthest Reaches, and Goldberg have sold items from his collection. All the way back in 2002, a long-time collectSPACE member wrote about trustworthy provenance "If the kapton (or whatever) is attached to an original (signature is not pre-printed or copied) Williamson certificate, than you can pretty much assume that its bonafide authentic." In fact, he was so much in the middle of things that some people seek his autograph for its own sake. (He was also the courier for delivering lunar rock samples to Houston, but didn't try to keep any of those souvenirs!) |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-21-2016 10:39 PM
The Kapton sample was folded in the little plastic holder, and when I took it out and unfolded it I was happy to see that it just kept going and going. At 2"x3.5" it is the largest piece of Kapton flown to the moon to be offered in years. (Heritage offered an Apollo 11 piece in 2010 that was almost exactly the same size as this one, 3x2.5". It sold for $8962.   Interestingly, an auction house offered two years ago a very similar Apollo 13 foil/hatchplug/screw collection certified by Williamson. They accidentally didn't mention the screw in the listing, so bidders perhaps didn't realize they could get a most substantial piece of the spacecraft than is usually available. Also, the Kapton sample piece was much smaller than the one I am now offering. Theirs sold for $1842. I should mention that the folds are exactly a half-inch apart, so someone who produces flown Kapton displays could buy this and make 20-24 acrylics with half-inch squares. As you can see from the tiny gold particles in one of the pictures, some of the coating on the tape has come off. It's not as solidly gold as some samples I've seen. Still, the close-up shows that it's still in very good condition. The price for this wonderful set of spacecraft components flown during one of manned space travel's most fascinating missions is $2400, plus $20 for insured Priority Mail shipping. I could accept three monthly payments. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-22-2016 06:15 PM
A potential buyer asked where the metal screw might have come from on the spacecraft. The head shows four tiny independent (that is, spaced around, not right next to each other) digits or letters. Does anyone have an idea? It must have been something that was immediately accessed after recovery. |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-22-2016 06:42 PM
The hatch plugs were there to cover and protect the screw fasteners that were countersunk into the plug holes. I suppose it's possible the screw came from under the plug.Disclaimer: I'm no expert and I'm sure there are many other, more informed, explanations for the screw's origin. |
CMikeW
Member Posts: 89
From: United States
Registered: Apr 2013
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posted 01-22-2016 06:48 PM
If you can post a picture of the head of the screw showing the drive slots and markings I might be able to assist your ID.
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stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-23-2016 10:42 AM
Thanks for your offer to take a look - here is a close-up. I was wrong about there just being only four digits/characters, because they are so small. Turns out it's: NAS
1623
C ...and then a character that looks like a Y.  |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2475
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 01-23-2016 03:32 PM
This is a typical aerospace type fastener, with a Torque Set recess. The "C" would indicate Cres or Corrosion Resistant Steel (non aerospace material is called Stainless Steel). |
Tom Dahl
Member Posts: 33
From: MA, USA
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted 01-24-2016 07:36 AM
NAS1623 is indeed a typical aerospace fastener, National Aerospace Standard #1623 which is a countersunk machine screw with offset cruciform drive slot. | |
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