Found artifacts from the Apollo 11 mission

After the death of Neil Armstrong (August 25, 2012), his widow, Carol, found a white cloth bag in her husband's closet. There was a series of artifacts from the first landing on the moon .

His wife contacted the curator of the Apollo collection at the National Aviation Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and handed over photographs of things. He immediately realized that the bag (known to astronauts as Purse) and its equipment could be brought from the Apollo 11 mission. He appealed to specialists and other astronauts to explain the origin and purpose of each thing. The study showed that the bag really was equipment for work on the surface, and Neil Armstrong took it with him to the lunar module during the epic Apollo 11 mission.

Of particular note is the 16-millimeter camera and 10-mm lens. The camera was attached behind the right front window of the lunar module and was used to capture the last phase of the descent to the moon, landing. She also filmed the activities of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface, including taking the first samples of lunar soil and setting the US flag.


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Armstrong's widow kindly agreed to lend things to the museum for preservation, research and public exhibitions. To date, they have studied thoroughly. Each artifact was photographed at a resolution of about 35 megapixels from different angles, cataloged, provided with a detailed description and posted on the Internet . It is surprising how carefully the museum workers reacted to the work, they worked for almost a year and a half.


Bag and its contents, total 18 items

For example, a space crew alignment module (Crewman Optical Alignment Sight, COAS), which was installed above Armstrong's window, was shot like this from all sides. Also a very valuable artifact, like the camera.







Now in the archive of photographs those historical photographs were found, where some details are visible in the frame.



By the way, the website of the museum contains a transcript of the astronauts with the control center after their departure from the moon, where they discuss whether it is possible to take some souvenirs with you in the bag.