Whilst on a recent business trip to London, the Apollo Instruments CEO visited the Apollo 10 display at the London Science Museum. This immediately garnered interest from the visitors attending, and Mark enjoyed providing a brief introduction to the DSKY for those in attendance.
Apollo 10, call sign ‘Charlie Brown’ and crewed by astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan, lifted off in May 1969 for a lunar orbital mission that served as the final dress rehearsal for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Stafford and Cernan piloted the Lunar Module to within 14 kilometres of the lunar surface, marking this the nearest approach until Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin achieved their historic landing in Apollo 11 two months later.
A notable observation during the visit is the significant discolouration of the control panel, attributed partly to the legacy of the Apollo 1 tragedy and five decades of exposure to London’s atmosphere. Following the Apollo 1 fire, engineers thoroughly reviewed the command module’s design to eliminate flammable materials, including the interior paint composition. The subsequent decision to remove the paint’s plasticiser proved suitable for the brief mission duration but resulted in a more porous finish prone to oxidation. This explains why equipment from this period now appears considerably darker than in contemporary photographs. Â Accordingly, the DSKY Moonwatch’s ceramic coating reflects the DSKY’s original appearance as the Apollo astronauts would have recognised it.
Wow. What a day. Such a privilege to put our DSKY watch next to such history!
