posted 01-12-2017 12:00 PM               

Apollo 1 AS-201 1966 Flown Ablator

Apollo S/C 009 ablator piece (approx 1" tall) housed in 3" tall half cone shaped piece of Lucite with curved bottom. Identification inside display reads 'Apollo S/C 009 Ablator/18000 mph reentry 26 Feb 66.' Ablator is crucial component of heat shield without which heat shield would fail to function. AS-201 was first unmanned test flight of Command Module & Service Module on Saturn 1B launch vehicle that was not a boiler plate.

posted 01-12-2017 06:03 PM               

AS-201 was first unmanned test flight of Command Module & Service Module on Saturn 1B launch vehicle that was not a boiler plate.

posted 01-16-2017 01:38 AM               

The items being offered at Regency are consistent with what he told me he had in his collection but I'm sure he had written provenance for everything. If that's not being offered with the items that's very unfortunate, to say the least.

posted 01-17-2017 07:24 PM            

Since I own the two flown utensils from Pete Conrad with full documentation, the spoon you show is likely a prototype or used for training.

On Chris Spain's site he indicates the flown Conrad spoons were sold at an Odyssey auction, but the original buyer did not pay for them and I later obtained them.

The Apollo spoons used during the missions come in a plastic packaging (starting with Apollo 12-STS135 are all made by Community). Also Apollo 11 utensils made by Community were used by the Lunar Receiving Lab as per the January 2010 Regency-Superior auction). The Apollo 12 spoons have a snap to open and close the packaging. They also have velco (red in color, as mine are for Conrad and red signified commander) so the spoons could be stuck to a surface. Bean's have blue Velco and are mounted in his house on a wall with some flown spagetti as that is his favorite food and was glad to have been the first man to eat spagetti on the Moon.

I also have Charlie Duke's set of spoons and they are identical in nature. I acquired them directly from him and again have full documentation. I also have numerous other flown Apollo, Skylab, ASTP and shuttle utensils and have been in touch with Chris to see about updating his list, which only addresses the Apollo era. I may ask Chris to add me as owner of the various flown utensils to his site. You will notice he gives me credit for my assistance on the flown utensils.

My concern is that while Ben correctly identifies the Apollo 12 spoon (as shown) is unflown but after a few sales down the line someone will pass it off as flown, even though there are some differences in that one spoon. Ben provided me with a list of 20 or so other Apollo utensils he has, so I am even more concerned now that future buyers and sellers will be confused....

I am just trying to protect my investment and the integrity of the hobby for those who will be alive long after me....

This is a post from 2012, which I believe came from Richard Stonely regarding the potential sale of some unflown spoons which were acquired by the relative of a NASA employee. Please note that in both the first and third paragraphs, he states that he has "full documentation" for both the Conrad and Duke spoons. This, if provided, would in my opinion multiply the value of the spoons you are auctioning by at least tenfold, and the provenance lineage could be reliably passed on to a new owner.

Are Mr. Stonely's heirs aware of this, such that a more thorough search for the "full documentation" can be done? I have four Apollo flown spoons in my collection, all of which are accompanied by letters of provenance from their prior astronaut owners, and I would hate for my heirs to not have that linkage. Richard was obviously concerned too, as evidenced by the last statement. My desire is not to cause you any problems, but to preserve the integrity of the space collecting hobby.

As an aside, the description of "rust" on the Duke spoons may be inaccurate. When I received a documented Apollo 17 Cernan flown spoon, there was what I thought surely rust on it. I proceeded to clean a portion of the handle, and to my surprise and delight, found that is was actually old food residue! The images of the Duke spoons look remarkably similar, and also suggest to me the validity of a flown status.