Early Apollo Instrument Panels

16 responses to “Early Apollo Instrument Panels”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Jul 15, 2011 at 2:40 am

   Here is the overall instrumentation layout, with the MDC-18 highlighted. The MDC-20 is below it on the right, and the FDAI is on the far left.
   
   and a closeup of the model
   

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2. 

   Black&Color

   Jul 15, 2011 at 3:15 am

   Very interesting and you look younger 🙂

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3. 

   Astrocatou

   Jul 15, 2011 at 3:18 am

   I think you would have enjoyed being born 10-20 years earlier….
   The school library would even have books on "Man High" balloon flights and the experiments with new rockets etc…
   Could have gotten an earlier leg up in computers too….(!)

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4. 

   JJ San

   Jul 15, 2011 at 7:54 am

   So do you idly flip the switches back and forth when you’re contemplating a big decision? Cachunk… cachunk… cachunk… click… click… click… "Eureka!"

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5. 

   jurvetson

   Jul 15, 2011 at 4:15 pm

   Ah, that would be the Magic 8-Ball. Will have to give that a try…

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6. 

   solerena

   Jul 15, 2011 at 4:43 pm

   🙂

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7. 

   jæms

   Jul 16, 2011 at 2:32 am

   I love the fact that someone with the means to collect this stuff also has the inclination to collect this stuff. Be honest now, mister Jurvetson. Bearing in mind that I ask this with utmost respect and admiration; are you really a ten-year-old?

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8. 

   Astrocatou

   Jul 16, 2011 at 2:58 am

   Apollo 1 fire;
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

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9. 

   jurvetson

   Jul 16, 2011 at 4:23 am

   [http://www.flickr.com/photos/84656095@N00] – yes! respect. And admire!

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10. 

    Jim Rees

    Jul 17, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    So you were two when men first set foot on the moon? And you probably have no memory of it? It was quite an amazing thing. In those days you couldn’t DVR it, youtube it, or even videotape it. You had to be there. Most of us were watching in black & white because only rich people had color TVs. And you had to adjust the rabbit ears just right. But at the time it all seemed so advanced, and inevitable. The future was still bright, but that would all change in the next few years. By the time of the last landing, the world had turned upside down.

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11. 

    Astrocatou

    Jul 17, 2011 at 11:15 pm

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/83025347@N00]
    Yes….good summary…on to Kent state,Watergate etc etc.
    And folks were bored with the moon …which I found odd.

    I recorded the EVA’s audio on a cheap tape machine….knowing this was something amazing.
    Lost the darn tapes…but then so did NASA…

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12. 

    aaardvaark

    Jul 18, 2011 at 1:53 am

    Very interesting, thanks. I like the ergonomics – no microwave oven stupidities here.

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13. 

    AMagill

    Jul 20, 2011 at 9:37 pm

    Careful.. looks like you’re awfully close to gimbal lock there. 🙂

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14. 

    jurvetson

    Jul 23, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    right you are… the dreaded gimbal lock…. and the red dot rolling toward the center is the warning.

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/34420997@N05] – speaking of "lost" NASA tapes from the moon, these were an amazing find in the back of a McDonalds:

    

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/83025347@N00] – I know…. I don’t have any memories of Apollo as it happened… which is so strange to me now.

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15. 

    Astrocatou

    Jul 23, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    Yes…I saw that one.

    My "reference manual" for the Apollo missions is here;
    http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html

    It has the audio,some video,a zillion still photo’s,
    When I hear that intermittent "beep"…I still get goose bumps. And the sound of how much they are enjoying themselves…Its priceless.
    sample;
    http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16v.1205759.mpg

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16. 

    jurvetson

    Feb 17, 2014 at 1:14 am

    And more recently, Rusty Schweickart, the first LM Pilot and B612 co-founder, gave us a magical tour of the artifacts and how he used them. Here he explains the dreaded gimbal lock:

    

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