Buzz Aldrin’s pair of Apollo 11 Flight Plan pages carried to the moon aboard the Command Module Columbia during the historic first lunar-landing mission. Both sheets measure 10.5 x 8 and were included as part of the final edition of the Apollo 11 flight plan, a minute-by-minute manual deemed by Aldrin as “the single most important document related to the success of our mission.” The first page, dual-sided, numbered 3-10 and 3-11, is from the detailed timeline section and covers flight hours 11 through to the start of hour 14, with both sides signed and flight-certified in blue ballpoint, “Carried to the moon on Apollo XI, Buzz Aldrin” and “Flown to the moon, Buzz Aldrin.” The page designated as 3-10 lists steps to accomplish Mid Course Correction engine burn number 1 (MCC1), a burn type planned to refine trajectory to and from the moon. When the long Translunar Injection (TLS) burn with the Saturn rocket third stage was declared accurate, Mission Control informed the crew that the MCC1 burn was not required, a decision that prompted Commander Neil Armstrong to pencil in “SCRUBBED” within the ‘Burn Status Report’ section.
The opposite side, page 3-11, covering the hours 12 to 14, features black felt tip notations made by both Aldrin and Armstrong. The mission LMP records yaw and pitch angles for the high gain antenna along the top, “Y 270, P -50,” notes the difference in LM and CM cabin pressure, “.5 psi,” and cancels a scheduled battery change, “canx @ 6:57.” Aldrin proceeds to log the first three values of the ‘On Board Readout’ as “37.1,” with Armstrong adding the Reaction Control System A-D values below: “86, 87, 89, 91.” In the ‘Presleep Checklist,’ Aldrin records crew radiation values of “110.02, 100.02, 09003,” before both he and Armstrong check off the remaining 16 steps.
The second page, identified as “Figure 9.2-2—Scanning telescope—translunar coast—(g.e.t.=11:00:00),” is signed and flight-certified along the bottom in blue ballpoint, “Carried to the moon on Apollo XI, Buzz Aldrin.” Inserted just before flight plan pages 3-9 and 3-9a, this chart was needed to assist alignment of the navigation system prior to the MCC1 engine burn and is specifically referred to as “SXT STAR CK” on page 3-10 of the flight plan. This sheet illustrates six different star pattern views that were visible through the scanning telescope at 11 hours Ground Elapsed Time (GET), patterns that allowed Aldrin, Armstrong, and CMP Michael Collins to verify lunar trajectory and update their guidance computer. In overall fine condition, with punch holes to both pages. Both pages are accompanied by detailed signed letters of provenance from Aldrin, who notes that each page “has been in my private collection since 1969.”
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