Directly from the Personal Collection of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin

FLO🙈WN APOLLO 11 LUNAR SURFACE DATA CARD FOR LUNAR MODULE RENDEZVℱOUS WITH THE COMMAND AND SERVICE MODULE TO RETURN HOME

BUZZ ALDRIN'S provenance letter reads, in full: "On July 16th 1969, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, and I lifted off from Pad 39A at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on our journey to perform humankind's first landing on the Moon at the Sea of Tranquility.

Neil and I used this 'LOS Rate' data card during the Terminal Phase Initiation (TPI). TPI was the third and final phase of the coelliptic orbital rendezvous in which Lunar Module Eagle would start the rendezvous maneuver that would join the ascent stage with Mike in the Command and Service Module (CSM) over a 130-degree orbital arc. As Eagle rose from a position about 15 miles below Columbia, the TPI maneuver placed Eagle in an approach phase that would make the CSM appear motionless against the star field. Any deviation would alter the line of sight and make Columbia appear to move among the stars. If that were to occur, then Neil and I would have to make a mid-course correction to show Columbia motionless against the stars. I, as Lunar Module Pilot (LMP), would consult the data card to calculate the distance and speed of close to the CSM, helping Neil to slow down and maneuver into docking position with Mike to start the journey home.

This data card shows a graph with an arc that displays the milliradians per seconds on the vertical axis and time from the start of the TPI on the first horizontal axis. The range or distance to the CSM is shown on the second horizontal axis and the Lunar Module braking velocity in feet per second is shown on the bottom horizontal axis. The line of the graph mimics the approach of the LM over the length of the TPI. Each section of the graph shows time and milliradians. Essentially, the graph line shows the approach of the Lunar Module over a 130-degree arc with the Lunar Module passing above the CSM and then slowing down to dock with the CSM.

This 'LOS RATE' data card is one of the few objects carried to the lunar surface and is also a rare example of an astronaut flight-certified object used during the first landing on the Moon."

REFERENCES:

NASA. Apollo 11 Stowage List. Mission AS 506 CM 107/LM-5. Houston, Texas: Manned Spacecraft Center, July 15, 1969, pp. 51 & 74 (as part of the Data Card Kit, LM XFR)

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