Originally from the Per🦋sonal Collection of Apollo 16ꦏ Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke

[Apollo 16]

LUNAR SURFACE FLOWN "Steering Systems Mechanical" schematic, page 4-9 from the Apollo 16 LM Systems Data Manual. Part No. SKB32100126-385. S/N 1001. Houston, Texas: NASA/MSC, January 6, 1972.

A large (27 1/2 x 10 1/4 in) folding schematic of the Lunar Rover's steering system. SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Lunar Module Pilot Charles M. Duke, Jr.: "Lunar Surface Stay Time: 71 Hours (Plus) / The Apollo 16 Lunar Rover / Steering Diagram, which accompanied / John Young and Me to the Moon’s surface, / As a reference guide to our / rover’s steering system! / Charles M. Duke, Jr. / - Apollo 16 - / Lunar Module Pilot"MATTED, FRAMED, AND GLAZED TOGETHER WITH: Typed provenance letter signed by Charles M. Duke, Jr., and 11 x 17 in. color photograph of John W. Young and the Lunar Rover on the surface of the Moon, taken by Charles M. Duke, Jr., SIGNED and INSCRIBED in blue ink by Charles M. Duke, Jr.: "Steering Control Assembly /I highly recommend the Lunar Rover's steering system, / which made it a snap to avoid these pesky craters & boulders / one tends to encounter while driving across the / moon's surface! / - on the Cayley Plains, Moon - / photograph by: / Charles M. Duke, Jr." Framed dimensions: 29^3/8 x 39 in.

Duke's provenance letter reads, in part: "This is to certify that the accompanying Apollo 16 Lunar Rover Steering System Diagram was flown to the Descartes Highlands of the Moon, where it landed on April 20, 1972. This chart then spent the next 71 hours on the surface of the Moon, housed within the Lunar Module Orion. This diagram details the mechanical steering mechanism of our Lunar Rover, which bears the historic distinction of being the second automobile ever driven by a human being on another world! Shortly after unloading our Rover from the Lunar Module, John Young and I encountered a problem with the Rover's rear steering system. Fortunately, the problem was quickly corrected without the need for analysis. Otherwise, we would have consulted the accompanying steering diagram to locate and fix the problem."

LITERATURE

NASA. Apollo 16 Stowage List. Mission J-2 CM-113/LM-11. Houstonꦑ: Manned Spacecraft Center, 🐼April 18, 1972, page 84