Lot 165
FLOWN APOLLO 11 NAVIGATIONAL CHART TAKEN TO THE LUNAR SURFACE MAPPING THE START OF THE FIRST MANNED LUNAR DESCENT
20 July 2016, 13:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$40,000 inc. premium
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FLOWN APOLLO 11 NAVIGATIONAL CHART TAKEN TO THE LUNAR SURFACE
MAPPING THE START OF THE FIRST MANNED LUNAR DESCENT
FLOWN Apollo 11 LM photographic film section chart, 25 nautical mile scale and a descent engine burn time mark of minus 2+00, the descent path track line plotted near the center of chart, prominent craters in the Secchi series labeled, 8.5 x 10.5 inches. With a Typed Letter Signed by BUZZ ALDRIN.
An important lunar map showing the LM's projected descent path, used during the anxious minutes while Armstrong and Aldrin were awaiting the "GO" for Powered Descent Initiation.
BUZZ ALDRIN'S signed provenance letter reads: "This LM descent navigational chart was flown to the Moon's surface in Lunar Module Eagle during the flight of Apollo 11. It was used to verify our descent track while Neil Armstrong and I prepared for the Power Descent Initiation (PDI) engine burn on July 20, 1969. The time period covered on this chart starts from about 3 minutes before this burn, then counts down to just about one minute before the PDI burn.
During this part of the flight, Mission Control had been trying to radio Neil and myself that we were "GO" for PDI, but we could not hear them. With assistance from Michael Collins in Columbia, the [sic] we finally heard the radio call. I then called off items from the LM Activation Checklist and said: "Hit VERB 77, Okay, sequence camera coming on."
If the PDI burn did not occur as planned, Neil and I could wait one more orbit, but once the burn started, there was only just enough fuel to make one attempt at the lunar landing. We were flying over the Secchi series of craters as shown on this chart and were exactly on center along the dark descent path line. This chart provided critical verification that Eagle was on course before the PDI burn was to occur.
The chart was one of a series taped together which provided a continuous map of our flight path and, like Neil and myself, logged over 22 hours on the lunar surface. It was exposed to the vacuum of the lunar surface while inside the LM during our lunar surface EVA.
I have written 'Carried in Eagle to the lunar surface on Apollo XI' and signed the chart under the nautical mile scale. This chart has been in my private collection since our return from the Moon in July 1969."
FLOWN Apollo 11 LM photographic film section chart, 25 nautical mile scale and a descent engine burn time mark of minus 2+00, the descent path track line plotted near the center of chart, prominent craters in the Secchi series labeled, 8.5 x 10.5 inches. With a Typed Letter Signed by BUZZ ALDRIN.
An important lunar map showing the LM's projected descent path, used during the anxious minutes while Armstrong and Aldrin were awaiting the "GO" for Powered Descent Initiation.
BUZZ ALDRIN'S signed provenance letter reads: "This LM descent navigational chart was flown to the Moon's surface in Lunar Module Eagle during the flight of Apollo 11. It was used to verify our descent track while Neil Armstrong and I prepared for the Power Descent Initiation (PDI) engine burn on July 20, 1969. The time period covered on this chart starts from about 3 minutes before this burn, then counts down to just about one minute before the PDI burn.
During this part of the flight, Mission Control had been trying to radio Neil and myself that we were "GO" for PDI, but we could not hear them. With assistance from Michael Collins in Columbia, the [sic] we finally heard the radio call. I then called off items from the LM Activation Checklist and said: "Hit VERB 77, Okay, sequence camera coming on."
If the PDI burn did not occur as planned, Neil and I could wait one more orbit, but once the burn started, there was only just enough fuel to make one attempt at the lunar landing. We were flying over the Secchi series of craters as shown on this chart and were exactly on center along the dark descent path line. This chart provided critical verification that Eagle was on course before the PDI burn was to occur.
The chart was one of a series taped together which provided a continuous map of our flight path and, like Neil and myself, logged over 22 hours on the lunar surface. It was exposed to the vacuum of the lunar surface while inside the LM during our lunar surface EVA.
I have written 'Carried in Eagle to the lunar surface on Apollo XI' and signed the chart under the nautical mile scale. This chart has been in my private collection since our return from the Moon in July 1969."