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  Apollo 13 artifact awards: why launch team?

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Author Topic:   Apollo 13 artifact awards: why launch team?
stsmithva
Member

Posts: 2085
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 04-10-2023 07:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for stsmithva   Click Here to Email stsmithva     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You've probably seen over the years the orangish 5x7 certificates with "A Piece of AQUARIUS LM-7" printed across the top, a flown piece of cargo netting on the left, and the signatures of the astronauts at the bottom.

My question is: why were these all awarded to a "Launch Team Member"? Of course they did harder, smarter work than I ever could, but it was the Mission Control Center in Houston that worked the problem, spent several sleepless nights, and helped get them back.

It really seems strange to me that these were printed "Launch Team Member" and not something more NASA-wide. Was some equivalent awarded in Houston?

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 3643
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 04-10-2023 08:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There were a few different types of flown Apollo 13 artifact certificates, all crew signed, that first originated at Grumman Aerospace Corp. in Bethpage on Long Island, New York, where the Apollo lunar modules had been built.

From there, Grumman and NASA officials liked the idea of the crew signed certificates with attached LM-7 flown netting swatches. But it didn't stop there with Aquarius as cut-segments of CM-109 had been included for many lunar module team workers, along with some other notable space employees, at both Kennedy Space Center and at the Manned Spacecraft Center and MCC.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 50763
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-10-2023 09:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
To illustrate what Ken wrote, here are what I believe are example Manned Spacecraft Center presentations that were the equivalent to the launch control team displays:

stsmithva
Member

Posts: 2085
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 04-10-2023 09:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for stsmithva   Click Here to Email stsmithva     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ah, there we go. Thank you - I had solely, for years, seen them only for the "Launch Crew."

MartinAir
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Posts: 300
From:
Registered: Oct 2020

posted 07-26-2023 12:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MartinAir   Click Here to Email MartinAir     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Out of curiosity, most/all of these yellow, launch team member Aquarius presentations have the flown webbing material stitched to the thicker rectangular fabric border. Was this border part of the flown cargo netting or was it added later to support the webbing?

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