Sold For $10,478
*Includes Buyers Premium
Export restricted (ITAR), sale only to US Citizens and Organizations. Flown Rocketdyne SE-8 engine cutaway from the Reaction Control System (RCS) of Apollo CSM-011, which made the second uncrewed, suborbital test flight of a production Block I Apollo CSM with the Saturn IB launch vehicle on August 25, 1966. The engine has been cut to reveal a cross section of its inner chamber, and retains its Rocketdyne "Propulsion System Component" label on the body: "Part Name: Rocketdyne Engine 9:1 Assy OF, Part No. 15-106006, Contract No. IDWA 6502, Customer Part No. ME901-0067-0012, Customer Serial No. 063600850122, Mfg. Serial No. 4070300." Housed in a period wooden display case, with Rocketdyne label, "Rocketdyne built R.C.S. engine & nozzle extension from Apollo Spacecraft 011, Launched on 25 Aug. 1966."
An additional caption within the case reads: "These 93 pound thrust engines can provide a minimum impulse bit as low as 1.8 pounds-sec. 12 engines & nozzle extensions are provided each Command Module for attitude control during re-entry. Char pattern of ablative thrust chamber demonstrates considerable safety margin beyond mission requirements." In overall very good to fine condition, with the display's wooden support armatures broken but present, likely repairable with wood glue.
AS-202 was an uncrewed Apollo test flight launched on August 25, 1966, using a Saturn IB rocket. The mission tested the Apollo Command and Service Module systems under the intense conditions of reentry and verified the performance of the Saturn IB for future crewed flights. The spacecraft completed four orbits and reentered at near-lunar return speeds, successfully demonstrating the heat shield’s capability and advancing preparations for the first crewed Apollo missions.
