Archivists Reveal Historic Unseen Pictures Of Apollo 11, The First Spacecraft To The Moon

Archivists at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum have released the hand-written notes and signs of the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, not seen in more than 40 years! Smithsonian is building a 3D model of the Apollo 11 to show what life must have been for those astronauts on their historic journey to the Moon.

Not a single inch of the spacecraft was untouched as the curators, collectors, and conservationists from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Digitization Program Office built a 3D replica of it.

Thanks to the project, the world will now be able to see inside the famous capsule, hidden from the world for decades. Inside the capsule, the archivists found hand-written notes, math figures and a handmade calendar that was replicated in the 3D model.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

In the picture above, the notes written by Michael Collins show how he figured the exact location of the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle on the lunar surface as he orbited the Moon alone in Columbia. He was using the coordinates sent to him from Houston. Although he wasn't successful in the task back then, historians are trying to figure where and why he went wrong.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The storage spaces of the astronauts show where everything was supposed to go but the astronauts played around a bit, improvising with the storage areas. As you can see in the picture above, they decided to use Locker R5 (supposed to be for storing auxiliary equipment related to the spacecraft¡¯s waste management system) to store their urine bags. The note on the wall must've been to remind themselves to not touch the locker for obvious reasons till the mission was over.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Here, NASA's John Hirasaki can be seen sitting inside the capsule during the quarantine period. The calendar is right behind him.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The small hand-drawn calendar was found marking each day of the mission from July 16th to July 24th just below one of the lockers. As the days would pass, they would keep crossing them out.

More insights might come forth soon as Smithsonian carries on with their research of the Apollo. Incredible, isn't it?