1960’s Space Tech – Tracy L. Scott

24 humans journeyed to the moon from 1968 to 1972. No humans have been to the moon since.

What was it like to fly in space in the 1960s and 70s? What was onboard technology like for the original Moon Shot Astronauts?

Technology onboard Apollo

Watch my “show-and-tell” about the Apollo onboard technology experience in this video for Emory’s Calliope’s Cabinet Series. Episode 8: Apollo 15 lunar mission Flight Data Files.

The Flight Data Files Online

The original Flight Data Files (FDFs) shown and discussed in the video will be donated to Emory Rose MARBL in 2023. The Digital versions of these FDFs are available to view online now. Click on the photos below to visit the item in the Readux platform on the Apollo 15 Hub.

*Apollo 15 Landing Cue Card* (1971). This card was used on the Apollo 15 lunar landing.

An original “meme” created by the back-up crew of Apollo 15 (Dick Gordon, Vance Brand, Jack Schmitt) and inserted into the *Apollo 15 Flight Data File: CSM Entry Checklist (S/N 1001)*, pp. 3-4. Carried onboard the Apollo 15 Command Module and used in the mission, August 1971.

*Apollo 15 Flight Plan Vol 1* (1971). Mentioned in the video (not shown), this is the Apollo 15 Flight Plan with another message from the back-up crew, who were all Navy, to the Apollo 15 crew, who were all Air Force: “Fly Navy”.

A Virtual LM Experience

Experience the technology for yourself through a virtual, interactive 3-D experience on the Apollo 15 Hub: Inside the Lunar Module lets you step into the virtual Apollo 15 LM. You will see and experience the LM as it rested on Hadley Rille in 1971, and you can move the actual cue cards as the astronauts did!

Image from the *Apollo 15 Inside the Lunar Module* 3-D experience on the Apollo 15 Learning Hub. Click on the photo above for the website.

Credits

Video by Emory University’s The Hatchery Center for Innovation and Emory Libraries. Thank you for the opportunity. Special thanks to Shannon Clute and the film production team!

Materials from the Apollo 15 mission are currently on display in the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory, curated by the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS), and including several items from the David R. Scott and Anne Lurton Scott papers housed in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. You can also explore the exhibit online here: Apollo 15: Digital Exploration on the 50th Anniversary of the Mission – Virtual Exhibit.

Special thank you to the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS). They digitized the Apollo 15 flight data files and created the Apollo 15 Learning Hub, where you can view them, along with the 3-D interactive experience: apollo15hub.org.