Item ST 35154 Spacecraft Model - 1960s NASA Apollo Command Module 'Columbia', United States of America,1978

Summary

1:3 scale model of the 1960s Apollo Command Module 'Columbia', manufactured by the Dayton Scale Model Co in the United States of America in the 1970s. The model was acquired in 1978 and used the following year for a 10th anniversary exhibition, commemorating the first landing of humans on the moon in 1969.

The Apollo spacecraft were made up of three separate units - the Command, Service and Lunar Lander modules. The Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) was home base for its three-man astronaut crew. Nearly as roomy as a large car, the CSM played a key role in transporting the three astronauts into the moon's orbit and then back to earth. The Command Module was the only part of the Apollo spacecraft designed to return to earth.

The NASA Apollo 11 spacecraft left earth from Cape Kennedy, Florida, in the United States of America, on 16 July 1969. A few days after launch, on 20 July 1969, the Command and Service modules separated from the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander, named 'Eagle', and the Lunar Lander transported the first humans to the moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon, the very first humans to do so. Command Module 'Columbia' pilot Michael Collins maintained lunar orbit while his crewmates visited the moon surface. The Lunar Lander then reconnected with the 'Columbia' and the entire crew landed safely back on earth on 24 July 1969.

The Lunar Lander was designed to disconnect from the Command and Service modules in lunar orbit and descend to the moon's surface with two astronauts. It consists of two sections; the Descent stage which remained on the moon, and the Ascent stage which returned the astronauts to the Command and Service Module (containing a third astronaut) in the moon's orbit. The Command module then disconnected from the Ascent stage and the Service module and returned to Earth with the three astronauts.

Physical Description

Silver painted wooden model with clear plastic oblong window and three figures (astronauts) inside with brown, black and blond hair. There is a short metal pole on the base.