[Apollo 13]

AN APOLLO ERA ARTIFACT SIGNED BY APOLLO 13 LMP FRED HAISE

The present lot, while not flown on any mission, is the same type of control panel used by CMP Jack Swigert during the historic Apollo 13 mission. At just under 56 hours into the mission, an oxygen tank exploded when the cryogenic fans were activated, resulting in a major loss of electrical power to the Command and Service Module and forcing the crew to cancel the lunar landing. Here, LMP Fred Haise has inscribed the present control panel with a notation indicating that the circuit breaker for those systems, as well as the crucial fuel cells, was connected to a control panel like this one.

Despite its status as an unflown artifact, this panel seems to have been originally meant for a mission based on the serial and part numbers printed on the back, as well as the application of Ladicote, an insulation applied to electrical wiring on flight items as an additional precaution following the devastating fire that claimed the lives of the Apollo 1 crew.

After the infamous explosion of oxygen tank #2 referenced in Haise's inscription here, the Apollo 13 crew had to move from the CSM into the Lunar Module Aquarius, using it as a lifeboat in order to survive a four day journey around the moon and return back to Earth. With people on the ground from both NASA and the contractor team working around the clock, an alternate flight plan was developed, and various procedures were developed to return the crew to Earth safely despite seemingly insurmountable challenges. The mission stands out as a paragon of teamwork and first-class training.

The Apollo Command Module control panel offered here, a remarkable object in its own right, references that incredible mission in its inscription and signature by Apollo 13 LMP Fred Haise who fearlessly lived it himself.