posted March 07, 2007 07:53 PM            

I am happy to report that the first Apollo Command Module that was built and flown, has been returned to the site of it's construction in Downey, Calif.

Looking as if it had gone to the Moon and returned, this very early Apollo was flown on Nov. 7, 1963 from White Sands, New Mexico on an escape tower test. It was later given to the employees union hall and bounced around the city of Downey. It now sits outside building #1 a couple of hundred feet where it was constructed.

This is so early a capsule that it is just the general shape without windows. The hatch has three handles and it was never meant to leave the atmosphere. The Abort test was done from the desert to test the escape tower and the capsule went up only a couple thousand feet at the most. Photos can be found of this test in the May 1964 National Geographic Magazine.

When Boeing left Site #19 in 1999, the Aerospace Legacy Foundation was asked by the city to inventory the site for artifacts for a community education center.

After the recent shuttle accident, it was named the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center, and it will have it's groundbreaking on April 10. The Apollo Command Module will be restored and joined by the first Space Shuttle mockup that was built by Rockwell International in 1974 at the new education center when it is opened next year.

The Downey site is now a movie studio where such films as "Catch Me If You Can" and the upcoming "Charlie Wilson's War" have been filmed.

The Aerospace Legacy Foundation is dedicated to remembering and perserving our aerospace history.

James M. Busby
Board member

posted March 07, 2007 08:32 PM            

Though it has been reported that this capsule was scrapped- it was given to the Aerospace employee's union hall by North American Aviation and was seen in front of those halls until they recently closed here.

As you can see it had no windows (painted on) and has a crude hatch with three horizontal handles. But the attach points for the escape tower are visible.

posted March 08, 2007 02:28 PM            

My strangest story was discovering a full set of leading edge pieces for a shuttle's left wing, sitting in a box all alone in a large warehouse, a few weeks after the accident. They were dated back to pre STS-1. They were later given to Boeing to assist in recovery efforts- with a couple donated for the center.

posted March 27, 2007 09:03 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
Ok folks, help me here. Some of the posts above refer to the shuttle orbiters as being built in Downey, CA. The web site for the Downey studios also state that the shuttles were built there. I thought that they were assembled and checked out in Palmdale. I know that the wings were built by Grumman in Bethpage as I have worked with one of the designers from that era and he had always talked about the orbiters being assembled in Palmdale. So what was the role of the Downey plant and the space shuttle orbiters?

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All the orbiters were assembled in Palmdale and transported by road to Edwards AFB for subsequent flight to the Cape on the back of the 747. Some of the Rockwell folks can correct me, but I believe all the major engineering work and some of the component assembly was done at Downey.

posted March 29, 2007 08:05 PM            

Mercury Little Joe boosters were built here in the late 50's. I haven't found out how they left the plant- but Long Beach airport was down the street.

Then Apollo Command and service modules were assembled here in Downey at Bldg. 290 from components built here in Bldg.1 and also around the nation, then trucked down Lakewood Blvd. to Long Beach Airport and flown out by Guppy Transport aircraft or C-133 Cargomaster.

The Shuttle forward crew compartment (with flight deck, mid deck and airlock) was built in Downey (again in 290) and trucked down to Palmdale. The aft fuselage (where the engines sit) was also built here and trucked out there. A complete shuttle wiring vehicle was built in Downey(The "IronBird")in Bldg.1 and that was for the wiring for every vehicle, as they were each built. Downey also had built and tested a 1/5 scale shuttle stack for shake and vibration testing. This was conducted in the old little joe Building.

As these were national projects they were operated from here(for the NASA), But final assembly was too large for shuttle and Downey had no airfield to fly Orbiters out of by then. It was taken out by 1960.

posted October 09, 2007 10:58 PM            

quote:

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Hatch opening of boilerplate finds that it is a different Apollo

The day was finally cool enough for the team of technicians from the Aerospace Legacy Foundation to make the attempt to go inside the capsule. Ladders were drawn up aside the old craft and they began their assault. The hatch, frozen for nearly 38 years refused to budge, so over 40 bolts had to be drilled out taking nearly five hours. Finally, late in the afternoon, the hatch on the Apollo command module was successfully lifted out. A musty smell from so many years of being closed drifted up. After a few moments, Gerald Blackburn, the president of the Aerospace Legacy Foundation hopped over the frame and went inside. He was met with a huge surprise: the interior layout was incorrect according to the historic drawings. Searching around, he soon found the identification plate, and again was surprised. It read "Boilerplate #12".

On four spots around the inside were found the I.D. plates that yielded the government numbers for the capsule, V 16-00012.

Apollo Boilerplate #12 (BP-12) was the first to fly atop the Little Joe II rocket on May 13, 1964 from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This early command module reached an altitude of 28,000 feet during the first test of the Apollo Launch Escape System under actual flight conditions. On that historic flight, one of the three parachutes separated from the module at deployment but the capsule still landed upright and suffered little damage (this may explain a slight indentation found on the inside bottom of the heat shield by the inspection team). Documents reveal that BP-12 was later "modified" into BP-12A and BP-12B configurations for rollover water impact testing at Downey, California. BP-12 remains the oldest known Apollo to fly, a mere six months after the first pad abort test.

When outer access hatches were opened it revealed that the capsule had faired well in the 44 years since it was built at Downey. The ID numbers on individual pieces retained their chrome green color and the numbers were clearly visible. Foam, which was likely applied when the craft was prepared for the later water tests, is browning but also in good condition. The only area yet to be examined is the parachute area, which retains a later "Block 1" apex cover, to be lifted off soon. There is some access to this compartment and it appears that some earthly critters were able to find nesting there.

Soon this Apollo will be joined by Boilerplate #19, and both will be prepared as exhibits for the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center, which is being built in Downey, Ca and is slated to open next year.

The mystery remains: What happened to BP-6?

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posted October 10, 2007 02:55 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by E2M Lem Man:
After a few moments, Gerald Blackburn, the president of the Aerospace Legacy Foundation hopped over the frame and went inside.

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Courtesy David Temple, a NASA photo (S64-17498) showing the recovery of BP-12.

posted October 11, 2007 01:38 PM            

We only had 24 hours to retrieve the module or the Union was going to sell it. Luckily we didn't need Keifer Sutherland! He might have only blown it up so no one else would get it anyway!

posted January 08, 2008 01:16 PM            

We have met a couple of times through Rob Godwin - but I never knew that you were a former "Bald Eaglet" that worked here in Downey.

We are expecting some more interesting Boilerplate news here soon - and I will let you know!