Apollo 15 mementos and the 'third PPK'

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Author	Topic: Apollo 15 mementos and the 'third PPK'
SRB Member Posts: 258 From: Registered: Jan 2001	posted 04-04-2007 02:43 PM The final stowage list for Apollo 15 shows that there was a third personal preference kit (PPK) on the lunar module that was transferred back to the command module and returned to Earth. I wonder what was in that PPK? That might be the source of the lunar landed flags, patches, etc. for this mission.
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 46995 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999	posted 04-04-2007 02:44 PM Was this "third PPK" the Postal Kit flown for the U.S. Postal Service? "First Man" also mentions a third PPK used by the Apollo 11 moonwalkers for personal items such as sunglasses, pens, etc.
SRB Member Posts: 258 From: Registered: Jan 2001	posted 04-04-2007 02:45 PM The PPK that is shown as having been transferred back to the CM from the LM is simply described as "Kit, Pilots Preference (PPK)" This would seem to rule out it being a Postal Kit of some kind. The Stowage list shows that pens, pencils, markers, scissors, sunglasses, etc. were "On Crew". While this doesn't rule out other similar items being in this LM PPK, it seems to make it less likely that the PPK carried a lot of items the astronauts also carried in their spacesuits.
Ken Havekotte Member Posts: 3297 From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard Registered: Mar 2001	posted 04-04-2007 02:45 PM Yes, a "third" kit aboard Apollo 15's lunar module Falcon continues to be somewhat of a mystery. I've been talking about this with space folks, even a few astronauts, since last year. Unfortunately though, Irwin never said anything about it and I don't think Scott has ever commented about knowing about such a "third" kit. I do believe, perhaps starting with Apollo 11, that NASA and the government kept their own kit aboard the landing crafts. But I do not believe, just my own opinion for now, that any such contents of a mysterious "third" kit contained any personal astronaut-owned souvenirs. So far, from what I can gather, it would appear that only NASA and various government agency issued flags of the nations, U.S. states and territories, perhaps some mission patches, and possibly other government-related items may had been the contents of a third kit aboard the later lunar module missions. In regards to the carried stamp kit aboard Falcon, as I understand it, that was a completely separate container not related to any of the provided or astronaut-issued PPKs. Besides, there were only two Apollo flights that flew a postal-related "kit," if you will, — Apollos 11 and 15 — in which both were approved by the U.S. postal service. Hopefully, and perhaps sometime soon, we can eventually conclude this topic in order to shed more factual light on the mysterious lunar module "third" kits.
Tom Member Posts: 1627 From: New York Registered: Nov 2000	posted 04-04-2007 03:17 PM Did Dave Scott (or Jim Irwin) ever explain why their two LM PPKs were left in the lunar module? Was it an oversight? Do we know the contents of both kits?
Ken Havekotte Member Posts: 3297 From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard Registered: Mar 2001	posted 04-04-2007 03:54 PM Yes, it certainly was an oversight. Both astronauts had thought the other had retrieved the kits before Falcon was jettisoned in lunar orbit. Irwin reported that the kits were on Scott's side of the LM (left side), therefore, he said it was Scott's task to bring them over to Endeavour. Irwin also said his LM PPK contained more envelopes, stamps, medallions, flags, shamrocks, and more! Included were at least a hundred $2 bills that he and Scott were going to split after the voyage. Even some of Worden's things were carried along with a wedding ring for a NASA friend of Irwin family, and a Marine flag from Cunningham that he overlooked on his Apollo 7 trip. Everything from his PPK was "completely lost," Irwin would later tell me on a trip to see him in Colorado.
cosmos-walter Member Posts: 724 From: Salzburg, Austria Registered: Jun 2003	posted 04-05-2007 09:40 AM The Barbara Baker cover stayed also with Al Worden in CM. I have another question: Apollo 15 was launched at 13:34 UTC (Greenich Meantime) being 8:34 local time at KSC (EST is UTC-5 hours). The astronauts went up to their capsule by elevator some three hours earlier. Obviously the guy sealing the covers fireproof had to do it in the middle of the night if time schedule was as described. Is there any confirmation that the covers were postmarked after midnight - right on launch day?
ArtandAstro Member Posts: 15 From: Registered: Oct 2006	posted 04-15-2007 05:35 AM According to a written statement made by Lee Saegesser, archivist, NASA Historical Office, on July 12, 1972, the covers that were carried in the space capsule were not cancelled just after midnight early launch morning, but were unstamped and unaddressed envelopes. After the Apollo 15 flight the covers were taken to Cape Kennedy and cancelled on the day of the launch, thus they were backdated.

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