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Lot #2245
Early Apollo Program Research Archive

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Estimate: $400+
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Description

Extensive archive of early publications related to the growth and development of the Apollo Program, containing a dozen seldom-seen booklets, reports, and manuals, with the majority deriving from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Instrumentation Laboratory, which was later named The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. The full list of materials is as follows:

Volumes 1 and 2 of the Apollo Guidance and Navigation report “R-500, Space Navigation Guidance and Control,” dated June 1965, prepared by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, with title page indicating that “These papers are to be presented by the authors at Wiesbaden, Germany and Brussels, Belgium in June of 1965 under the sponsorship of NATO’s Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development.” Volume 1, identified as Copy #134, consists of three parts—Guidance: Basic Principles by Dr. C. Stark Draper; The Navigation, Guidance, and Control of a Manned Lunar Landing by David G. Hoag; and Explicit and Unified Methods of Spacecraft Guidance by Dr. Richard H. Battin. Volume 2, identified as Copy #240, consists of four parts—Inertial Measurement Units and Pulse Torquing by John F. Miller; Optical Measurements and Navigation Phenomena by D. Alexander Koso; Guidance Computer Design by Dr. Albert L. Hopkins, Jr.; and Space Vehicle Flight Control by Dr. Wallace E. Vander Velde.

A group of four Apollo Guidance and Navigation reports prepared by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, with one dated September 1965 and three dated December 1956, with report title and author as follows: The ‘Braid’ Transformer Memory by R. L. Alonso and W. H. Aldrich (Copy #143); Couple Two-Degree-of-Freedom Response of Resiliently Supported Rigid Body to Random Excitation by G. Dudley Shepard (Copy #157); A Case History of The AGC Integrated Logic Circuits by Eldon C. Hall (Copy #150); and Performance Monitoring of the PGNS for Unpowered Lunar Orbit Flight Phases by B. A. Kriegsman and D. S. Millard (Copy # 173).

An immense bracket-bound manual entitled “Final Report on Special Techniques for Space Navigation, Phase II: Physical Phenomena” (Subcontract 247 of Prime Contract NAS9-153), dated July 1964, prepared by the Research Division at Control Data Corporation for the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. Containing five detailed main sections—Scattering of Solar Radiation by the Earth’s Atmosphere; Attenuation of Starlight; Refraction; Airglow; and Analysis of Errors and Error Sensitivity—with an abundance of figures, appendices, and tables. Rusted bottom bracket no longer functioning.

A 40-page booklet from The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, a not-for-profit research and development organization headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, accompanied by a printed letter from C. Stark Draper and issued to “Draper Lab Employees,” which reads: “Enclosed is a copy of a recently published brochure, intended to make known to a wider audience the Laboratory’s accomplishments and capabilities and its continuing aspiration to advance technology in the service of man.” The booklet includes its original envelope, which has a stained and torn upper section.

Two stapled reports from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Livermore: Respirator Cartridge Efficiency Studies: I. Experimental Design (Ruch, Nelson, Lindeken, Johnsen, and Hodgkins), dated April 29, 1971; and Respirator Cartridge Efficiency Studies: II. Preparation of Test Atmospheres (Gary O. Nelson and David J. Hodgkins), dated March 2, 1971.

A 43-page bracket-bound report by Douglas L. Patz entitled “Frequency Stabilization of a Gaseous He3-Ne20 Laser Utilizing a Zeeman Absorption Cell,” dated June 1965, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the “Degree of Bachelor of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.” Containing four sections—Introduction, System Components, Summary, and Appendix—with a total of 18 figures.

A 144-page bracket-bound manual entitled “Final report, Special techniques for Space Navigation: Volume 1: Atmospheric Composition,” dated July 1964, prepared by the Research Division at Control Data Corporation for the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (Apollo Group). The manual contains two main sections—Atmospheric Composition Affecting Optical Scattering, Refraction, and Absorption; and Analytical Approximations of Density and Temperature Profiles—with three appendices.

An MIT booklet entitled “MVLS-69-2, Life Support In Unusual Environments,” prepared by the Man-Vehicle Laboratory, Center for Space Research at MIT, dated February 1969, issued as the “Second Semi-Annual Status Report on NASA Grant NGR 22-009-312.” Includes a 25-page appendix entitled “Portable Life Support Systems for Extra-Vehicular Activities.”

A 34 x 22 blueprint for “Helmet and Visor Assy.” from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Instrumentation Laboratory, dated June 25, 1971, labeled as Drawing No. 174556. Accompanied by a pair of glossy photos of helmet and visor assembly, stamped on the reverse: “MIT/IL, Tech. Doc. Ctr., Dec. 6, 1971.”

A 130-page manual for a Harvard School of Public Health and Charles Stark Draper Laboratory joint project entitled “Design of a Respiratory Support System for a Space Station,” issued as “Final Report, NASA Contract NAS 12-2270, Interim report, NASA Contract NAS 12-2265,” dated “April 15, 1970 to January 14, 1971, with five sections: Introduction, RPD Modeling, Testing Program to Determine Parameters, Model Verification, and Conclusions. The manual is accompanied by a folder which contains sundry loose paperwork related to the project.

A one-page letter from Honeywell Inc., dated April 12, 1965, addressed to the X-15 Systems Program Office at the Aeronautical Systems Division at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in part: “Honeywell requested specific direction from the X-15 SPO concerning the referenced TCL.” Includes the original mailing envelope, with torn left edge.

A spiral-bound 352-page “Silicon Controlled Rectifier Manual,” prepared by the Application Engineering Office at General Electric, 2nd edition, dated 1961, with the title page stamped: “Durrell Electronics, Inc., Waltham, Mass.”

A 12-page operating instructions booklet from the General Radio Company for the “Type 1210-C, Unit R-C Oscillator,” dated January 1962.

An 18-page “Condensed Catalog” from the General Radio Company from 1962, with inserted GR price list guide from March 18, 1963. The publications feature various instances of handwritten notations. In overall fine condition.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Science & Technology and Space Exploration
  • Dates: #588 - Ended July 16, 2020