BOSTON, MASS.- An Apollo Command Module sextant sold for $90,676 according to Massachusetts-based
RR Auction.
The instrument is presumed flown on the unmanned AS-202 mission on August 25, 1966. AS-202 was the first test flight of the Apollo Command/Service Module with the complete Block I guidance and navigation system in it.
The sextant could be used 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).
It was designed by MIT Instrumentation Lab and manufactured by Kollsman Instrument Corp.
“This was a critical component of the spacecraft’s navigation system and as an early Apollo artifact of the utmost desirability,” said Robert Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction.
Highlights from the sale include, but are not limited by:
• Alan Bean original painting ‘John F. Kennedy's Vision’, sold for $74,938.
• Dave Scott’s Apollo 15 topographical map used on the lunar surface, sold for $58,860.
• Neil Armstrong oversized signed photograph, sold for $56,300.
• Alan Bean’s flown right waist strap from his portable life support system that was used on the lunar surface, sold for $51,180.
• Gene Cernan’s extravehicular activity cue cards carried aboard the lunar module during the Apollo 17 mission, sold for $45,350.
The Space and Aviation from RR Auction began on October 13 and concluded on October 20. More details can be found online at www.rrauction.com.
