The ~12.5” x 7.75” map section shown above was flown to lunar orbit aboard Command Module Endeavor on the Apollo 15 mission. It originates from Commander Dave Scott’s flown Apollo 15 “Lunar Contingency Chart” (Part Number SKB 32100115-382, S/N 1001), which bears the flight-certification “Flown to the Moon on Apollo 15, July 26 – Aug 7, 1971. Dave Scott, Apollo 15 CDR.” Intended for use in the event of an emergency “CSM-Only Alternate Mission,” the Lunar Contingency Chart was part of the Flight Data File Assembly stored in Endeavor’s R/H Equipment Bay (Compartment R3). It was originally consigned by Scott for sale in the April 16th, 2020 RR Space Auction (Catalog 581, Item 8334, p. 128).
The Lunar Contingency Chart from which this plate derives measured approximately 25” x 80” unfolded. It consisted of twenty ~12.5” x 7.75” contiguous map sections showing the features of the lunar surface visible from the Command Module during various orbits. In May 2020, Richard Garner divided this chart into smaller plates, which were offered for sale through his website, TheSpaceCollective.com. Each plate corresponds to one or more of the original chart sections (as defined by the fold lines), and their large size ensures that cartographic integrity has been preserved.
This map section comes from the left half of Commander Scott’s flown Lunar Contingency Chart, as indicated in the photo. It features several important craters, including Tsiolkovsky (named after the early Russian rocket scientist), Gagarin (named after the first man in space), and Jules Verne (whose classic book “From the Earth to the Moon” inspired Tsiolkovsky and anticipated many details of the Apollo program). This plate spent approximately 145 hours in lunar orbit (the longest of any Apollo mission), completing 74 orbits of the moon and traveling 1,107,945 nautical miles in its journey to the moon and back. It was exposed to the hard vacuum of space for 39m 7s when Endeavor depressurized for Al Worden’s deep-space EVA after leaving lunar orbit.
Garner certified the flown provenance of this plate in pencil on the reverse (“Flown on Apollo 15 – Richard Garner”), along with its Space Collective serial number (AP15-FMP-1) which establishes a permanent link to his sales records and associated provenance information. Also comes with a signed and stamped statement of provenance from Garner, along with a copy of Dave Scott's original COA and an image showing the location of this map plate on the original chart.
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