Item: Apollo 13 flown Command Module film on Fred Haise signed cover
Size: Size: 16.2 x 9. 2 cm.

Description:

A piece of film on the front and back of the cover and signed by Fred Haise on the cover. The inscription on the front reads: "Splashdown - Crew recover.

April 17, 1970 - After jettison on the LM "lifeboat" and the damaged Service Module, the Apollo 13 crew returned safely to Earth as their Command Ship Odyssey splashed down less than 4 miles from the awaiting recovery ship, USS Iwo Jima, in the South Pacific Ocean. The splashdown was perfect and once on board the carrier deck, astronauts Lovell, Haise and Swigert, looked tired but happy. The curtain was brought down on the most harried and critical flight emergency of the entire NASA manned space program. Never in recorded history was a journey of such peril been watched and waited-out by almost the entire human race."

On the back of the cover says:

"Flown film

This is a piece of 70 mm Apollo 13 film fom a roll of processed film. The film was salvaged by Dick Underwood, NASA Supervisory Aerospace Technologist, who was ran the developing machines at NASA for ll returning flights."

"Also a piece of Apollo 13 flown film on the front of this cover"

Signed by Sandy Clarkson, The Right Stuff Space

Apollo 13 flown film

This film segment on the postal cover is from the Dick Underwood collection.

Apollo 13 carried 4 Hasselblad 70mm cameras. Only 2 of the cameras were used taking a total of 584 exposures. The exposures were captured on 5 magazines; 95 on B&W film and 489 on color film.

Because of the oxigen tank explosion in the Service Module the focus of the mission changed from the third lunar landing to bringing the crippled ship and crew home safely. The cameras played a critical role in capturing the photos of the LM's Lithium Hydroxide Canister as "fixed" by Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert. Photos of the Service Module as it was released from the Command Module allowed a detailed analysis of the damage caused by the explosion. As Fred Haise has stated "The damage looked much worse than expected".

The film leaders and tails that Dick UNderwood salvaged 50 years ago were recently rediscovered. Thankfully film from several missions were each packaged separately. And we are fortunate Underwood not only saved the film remnants but also documented exactly which mission each leader and tail came from.

For Apollo 13 the photo below is one section of film today. This film is from Underwood's Apollo 13 envelope containing all flown laders and tails, but no magazine identification is indicated. One of the Apollo 13 film magazines used by the crew contained 6 images that NASA determined were unusuable (AS-13-9040 to AS13-63-9045). This film magazine was unnamed. The small piece of film affixed to this envelope is flown and is from the unnamed magazine.

As can be seen due to age and poor storage conditions portions of the film are different colores. The film leader/tail have plastic extensions tapped to the end of the film. These extensions were added as means to feed the film into the processing machine used to develop the film rolls. For this project, as seen in the photograph, the grey plastic extensions have been separated from the actual film.

Item: Fred Haise signed spacesuit glossy photo
Size: 21 x 29.2 cm.

Description: Fred Wallace Haise Jr. (born November 14, 1933) is an American former NASA astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force, and a test pilot. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, having flown as Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 13. He was to have been the sixth person to walk on the Moon, but the Apollo 13 landing mission was aborted en route.

Haise went on to fly five Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests in 1977, and retired from NASA in 1979.

Item: Apollo 13 Lunar Surface Exploration Map
Size: 20.9x26.8 cm.

Status: Unflown.

Description: This page comes from the Lunar Surface Exploration Map Data Package (s/n SKB 32100082-371), and it's signed by igned by Fred Haise with inscription: "Used for traverse familiarization - Fred Haise - Apollo 13 LMP".

These maps were used to familiarize and train Jim Lovell and Fred Haise with all the details of the Fra Mauro region including their planned EVA routes.

The maps were assembled by the U.S. Geological Survey team responsible for developing detailed maps for the lunar landings. When Fra Mauro was designated as the A-13 landing site this map package as assembled using lunar photographs from the previous four Apollo missions as well as from several unmanned satellite mapping missions. The goal was to provide accurate topographic relief, identify potential landing sites, and identify specific landmarks along the approach path of the Lunar Module.

While the Apollo 13 landing was aborted to an on-board explosion the same maps were used to train the Apollo 14 crew who landed safely and explored Fra Mauro in February 1971.