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Author
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Topic: Apollo 9 flown kapton: from which hatch?
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davidcwagner
Member Posts: 1106
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 03-13-2025 01:27 PM
   
Have some flown Apollo 9 hatch insulation. Which hatch is this from? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 54256
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-13-2025 06:16 PM
What is the provenance behind the kapton? |
jtheoret
Member Posts: 408
From: Albuquerque, NM USA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 03-13-2025 11:36 PM
Rusty Schweickart sold lunar module (LM) Kapton through a few Heritage auctions that he said he got from the hatch before they jettisoned the LM. I'm no hardware expert, so I'm not sure where near the hatch he had access to it. I have found that NASA image S68-50869 (below) shows the Apollo LM and command module (CM) hatch mechanism and the LM hatch clearly has some Kapton around the interior of it, but whether that's where Rusty took the foil from, I do not know.  |
space1
Member Posts: 956
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 03-18-2025 04:02 AM
Perhaps it is from the exterior of the forward hatch, which he could have obtained during his EVA. |
Rocket Chris
Member Posts: 459
From: Guttentag
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 03-18-2025 05:31 AM
What colour the Kapton has? Is it more golden? Then it has seen heat and thus its from the exterior of the capsule.Is it silver, it can be taken during EVA and has not seen any heat which occurs during reentry. Probably this might help a little bit solving the mystery. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 54256
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-18-2025 06:06 AM
While heating did expose the underlying golden layers of polyimide tape, at least some of the MLI on the LM was golden on one side and silvery on the other. |
davidcwagner
Member Posts: 1106
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 03-18-2025 09:44 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
What is the provenance behind the kapton?
Attached some photos. McDivitt signed also but cannot find photo. 
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MartinAir
Member Posts: 433
From:
Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 03-18-2025 11:21 AM
That would be a great question to ask Rusty directly, only he knows. |
Rocket Chris
Member Posts: 459
From: Guttentag
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 03-19-2025 01:28 AM
If I read it correctly the fist sentence on the plaque reads "This Kapton-foil segment was removed from the top hatch of the Apollo 9 Lunar Module".
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