The sextant was used with its counterpart (the scanning telescope) to determine the Command Module’s position and attitude with relation to stars or landmarks. This data was then supplied to the onboard computer to calibrate the spacecraft’s Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU).

The sextant was a highly accurate optical device capable of measuring the included angle between two targets. Angular sightings of two targets were conducted through the fixed beam splitter and movable mirror located in the sextant head. The sighting head assembly is rotatable to 270 degrees in shaft axis position in either direction, from the zero reference point. The sextant lens provides 1.8-degree true field of view with 28X magnification. The movable mirror is capable of sighting a target to 57 degrees line of sight from the shaft axis. Both the fixed and moveable mirrors are fabricated of beryllium; the beryllium is Kanigen coated and aluminized to obtain maximum reflectivity. The sextant target optics include an indexing mirror assembly and a beam splitter, telescope, and eyepiece assembly.

Block II metal cased unit measures approximately 7 x 6 x 6, with parts having serial numbers SN EE-1 and SN EE-2. The sextant was designed by MIT Instrumentation Lab, and manufactured by Kollsman Instrument Corp.

Part of the DFJ Space collection. We just did a promo video on it too =)

10 responses to “Apollo Block II Sextant”

  1. On display at work… a work of beauty Other angles And a spare lens, acquired separately: numbered 2011796 AKICS3, measuring 4″ long

  2. Just read about this navigation method in Ken Richardson’s book about Hughes Aircraft. Cooled IR sensors able to detect the thermal energy from one star !

  3. Taking a 3D star fix from space while moving at thousands of miles per hour…hmmm…as one who has done it from sailboats, this kind of boggles the mind…What is the fix relative to? Earth-Moon centers?

  4. ps: Tuning fork tracker?

  5. pps: have you seen the medallic art apollo commemorative medals? they come in bronze and silver, 2.5", heavy, art on both sides is unique and very well done. The bronze versions can be bought on ebay for $20-$30 each, the silver $100+ each. There is one medal for each mission: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apollo-11-Lunar-Landing-Commemorative-Br...

  6. thanks… I don’t collect collectables. =) But it does kill me that the very fancy sextant I just bought at auction was on eBay with a Buy it Now price 18x lower just a few months ago. I knew that going in… Congrats to the arbitrageur!

  7. And here she is… From Flight AS-202 The original Apollo Sextant from flight AS-202

  8. I originally purchased this OUA from a Kollsman employee. NASA Had deaccessioned it to Kolldman and the company had it on display. When they moved from Long Island NY to New Hampshire, they decided to sell some items they had on exhibit. I bought it from the employee who purchased it. It had been partially converted to a Block II configuration, hence the Block II connectors. I cleaned it up (working in a fume hood because of the possible beryllium oxide dust). It had some corrosion from the salt water. The sextant elevation mirror had the coating damaged by re-entry heat and salt water. Since some work had already been done on it by Kollsman (used for Block II testing?) I did not see any problem with replacing the mirror. Though I had a huge number of parts that I purchased surplus from Kollsman, a sextant mirror was not among them. I wound up sending the mirror back to the company that made it. They stripped the damaged coating and re-coated it. Not cheap, but it restored the optical path through the sextant. I swapped ti to another collector and he’s the one who consigned it. Glad it has found a good home. Contact me if you would like to know more: drdicom1@gmail.com

  9. The sextant optical head that you have separately is a Block II head with the star tracker optics and some of the electronics installed. That is the reason the sextant elevation mirror has the extension to one side. NASA deleted the star tracker requirement as they did not think it would be completed and tested by the time of the operational missions.

  10. wow… thanks for the backstory! I will email you now

Leave a Reply to sbove Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *