posted 04-15-2021 05:38 AM               

It got me thinking. When the Cosmosphere produced the lucites containing a small swatch of the couch material from the spacecraft, exactly how much material was used? One entire couch, all three couches or parts from each?

posted 04-15-2021 02:19 PM               

This is a segment of the actual backing restraint material removed from the mission commander James A. Lovell's spacecraft couch aboard the Apollo 13 Command Module "Odyssey."

posted 04-15-2021 05:25 PM               

My Cosmosphere Apollo 13 fabric lucite also says the source was commander Lovell's seat. There were of course also several different seat fabric swatch presentations awarded in sizable numbers to mission participants by NASA, none of which say whose couch seat was used. The ASF Space Artifact Series with fabric sourced from Fred Haise also does not indicate which couch position was used.

You got me curious enough to reach out to the Cosmosphere with a few questions, referencing the restoration photo album linked above -

1. Were all three seats' fabric material replaced during the restoration or is some couch fabric original still?

2. How much material was used for the Cosmoshere's Apollo 13 lucites, and was it all from one couch position or several?

3. What were the reasons for replacement of the couch fabric in whole or part?

Thanks for contacting us!

As far as we can tell, the only couch that has an authentic Apollo 13 cover is the center couch. I'm guessing the photograph you attached shows the couches after the covers (real and fabricated) were installed and that's why they look like they are in good condition. Unfortunately, I can't tell you which couch the Cosmosphere lucite came from!

There's any number of reasons why the real couch covers would have been replaced. The spacecraft, and particularly the interior parts to it, had a long history prior to coming to the Cosmosphere. As you mentioned, it could have been that they were damaged beyond repair or weren't even present at the time we received the spacecraft. Fabric in particular can take a beating and doesn't last nearly as long as metal. So, while I can't tell you exactly what condition they were in and how the decision was made, I can assure you it was made under the guidance of the conservators and curators at the Smithsonian.

I hope this helps!

Maybe NASA's presentations had already chewed up enough couch fabric on two of three positions that replacements were warranted while also providing a ready source for the Cosmosphere lucites. In general, I certainly concur with you on "first, do no harm" but NASA themselves may have been behind the first and deepest cuts.

posted 04-15-2021 07:09 PM               

I would have expected that decision to have been documented.

I had the pleasure of meeting Shannon in 2017 when I contacted the Cosmosphere and told them of my impending "pilgrimage" to Kansas. Shannon very kindly invited me to see some of the artefacts behind the scenes. Like Charlie visiting the chocolate factory my mouth was open for much of the time...

posted 04-18-2021 09:27 PM               

First, the couch assemblies as well as many other parts on Apollo 13, 14, and 15 were removed to make CM Procedure Trainers for Skylab and ASTP. Later on the toggles switches from Apollo spacecraft were removed and used in the shuttles. This was all due to budget constraints brought about by the reduction of government spending at NASA.

The second point is that Rockwell removed the Apollo 13 commander's couch and made presentations to key Rockwell people.

During the 1990's the Cosmosphere collected a large amount of flown Apollo 13 equipment for the museum. One of the items was a large segment of couch fabric with a Rockwell yellow removal tag that identified it as from Lovell's couch. It is thought that this was the remainder of the fabric that was used for the Rockwell presentations.

There were 35 large lucites made for key members of the Apollo 13 movie cast and crew as souvenirs. The Cosmosphere also made about 100 smaller lucites for sale to the public.

The Cosmosphere received the ASTP trainer from NASA and they would later figure out the trainer had been refitted with the the Apollo 13 cockpit panels. Turns out that the Skylab trainer has the Apollo 14 cockpit panels. It is theorized that the Apollo 15 cockpit panels are in CSM-105 the backup to the ASTP CSM.

Turns out that it is not possible to restore all of the CMs since the earlier CMs were cannibalized to provide parts for the later CMs.

posted 04-19-2021 05:35 AM               

The text on the bottom of the lucites presented to the "Apollo 13" film crew reads:

This is a segment of the actual backing restraint material removed from mission commander James A Lovell's spacecraft couch aboard the Apollo 13 command module "Odyssey." This artifact symbolizes one of the greatest human dramas to ever unfold in space during the near catastrophic mission of Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970. Presented by the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center as a tribute to your participation in the development of Universal Studio's movie production of "Apollo 13."

posted 04-19-2021 12:33 PM               

Outside the Cosmosphere lucites, I’ve seen two types of couch fabric presentations and wonder if Rockwell was behind them all?

A Bonhams auction shows a white card with blue inset given to Rockwell employee David Llorente, so that fits.

I have one of the signed yellow card presentations to Frank Bryan of NASA’s KSC Launch Vehicle Operations. While mine has a swatch of Aquarius LM netting the same card design can be found with Odyssey couch fabric. I’d assumed these were all NASA awarded. I’d also forgotten Chris Spain has a great writeup on these and a rarer light gray-blue LM-7 netting card.

posted 04-19-2021 03:08 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Larry McGlynn:
It is theorized that the Apollo 15 cockpit panels are in CSM-105 the backup to the ASTP CSM.

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