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

LUNAR SURFACE FLOWN DATA CARD PROVIDING INFORMATION ON COMMUNICATION🧔 MODES BETWEEN MISSION CONTROL, THE COMMAND AND SERVICE MODULE (CSM), THE LUNAR MODULE (LM), AND THE EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITY SUITS (EVA) DURING HUMANKIND'S FIRST MOONWALK

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.

This Communications Operational Modes data card provided the positions of switches for communications between Mission Control, the Command and Service Module (CSM), the Lunar Module (LM), and the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suits during our moonwalk. The eight columns gave me an instant cue on all the types of communications required to convey voice, data, biometrics, range measurements, telemetry, and television. We needed this card on our descent since the position of Eagle in relation to Earth interfered with our voice and telemetry communications with Mission Control and we had to switch modes frequently during the Moon landing.

I placed this data card near the communications and audio panel on the right side of the cabin next to me for quick reference during descent and ascent. The card was an excellent guide to the positions of the switches and dials on the audio panel during certain phases of Eagle’s flight to the surface, EVA time on the surface, and from lunar liftoff to rendezvous and docking. The LM had both S-band and VHF antennas on the ascent stage. There were three S-band antennas for communication with Earth, one with a steerable antenna. The two fixed antennas were placed fore and aft for inflight communications. There were three VHF antennas for communication with the CSM and between the LM and the moonwalkers on the surface.

This Communications Operational Modes 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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