Lot 949
Apollo 9, Non-Encapsulated Heatshield Bolt Plug, Personal Property of the Engineer. The Apollo Command Module heatshield used 59 bolts to attach the shield to the spacecraft and a plug was placed in the ablative material to cover and protect the bolts. Each plug was unique with its specific location number engraved on the metal bottom. After a flight, the plugs were removed from the heatshield, then the heatshield itself removed and inspected by engineers and technicians. Frequently these flown plugs were entombed in lucite for premium presentations and awards. From the collection of the engineer, we are offering from the Apollo 9 Mission an un-encapsulated bolt plug complete with its temporary parts removal tag, which identifies the flight and the unique location number (in this case # 46) recorded on tag. Bolt is 2¾"
Worth noting, the plugs were all the same diameter but varied in length based on the thickness of the ablative material in the region of the command module, with the shortest at 1¼" in length and the longest at 2¾". Plug comes with a brief autographed biography of the engineer on Goldberg Auctions letterhead. Estimate Value $1,200 - UP
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| Realized $1,860 |
