Beschreibung:

THE TIMELINE BOOK – Apollo 11 LM Timeline Book . [Houston:] Manned Spacecraft Center, Flight Planning Branch, 19 June-12 July 1969. Flown aboard the Lunar Module Eagle and annotated by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in real time, 20-21 July 1969, the Timeline Book is the most important manual used to accomplish the National goal of landing man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. Final edition with manuscript and typescript amendments. 10.5 by 8.5 inches. 22 leaves with 43 printed pages. Illustrated with diagrams including a full-page “CSM/LM Typical Landmark Tracking Profile” oriented from the Moon; depictions of the spacecraft oriented from the Earth, two circuit breaker boards, and several orbital grids. Printed on various stock paper, a heavier stock for 10 leaves beginning with page 6 (the first page unique to the Timeline Book ) and lighter stock paper for the PDI Abort sequence pages. Card covers, front cover printed, covers and all pages three-hole punched and fastened with book rings. Part No. SKB32100080-388. Serial No. 1001. • This Timeline Book was located precisely between Commander Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Aldrin as they made the historic landing, amidst computer alarms flashing and with only about 20 seconds of fuel remaining. • Eagle ’s coordinates in the Sea of Tranquility are written by Aldrin on page ten within moments of landing, being the first writing by a human being on an extraterrestrial body. • It narrates the entire 34-hour LM Eagle voyage from inspection, undocking, lunar surface descent, stay, and ascent, to the lunar orbit rendezvous with Command Module Pilot Michael Collins in Columbia . • The Timeline Book is unique, with: —numerous manuscript and typed technical updates made at Cape Canaveral as late as four days before the Apollo 11 launch —faint traces of apparent lunar dust on the transfer list pages which detail the movement of lunar rock samples and equipment from LM Eagle to CSM Columbia —nearly 150 completion checkmarks and other annotations made by the astronauts during the Apollo 11 mission during the flight No more significant document of space exploration history is likely to ever be created as future manned missions will be more fully digitized and will not leave this human trace. Edition and Revisions Most pages are individually dated, the earliest source date being 19 June 1969–“Basic edition” (except for the landing page with a possibly erroneous hand-lettered date of 16 June). The overall “Final edition” of the book is dated 1 July 1969. Subsequent revisions are made by hand and typed over correction tape which are dated from 2 July to 12 July with alphabetic revision designations ranging from letters “C” to “N.” The large majority of the used pages in the Timeline Book have hand-made revisions (the unused pages are the Abort sequences or blanks). There are over 20 pen-and-ink changes and nearly 20 instances of typed correction tape made by the flight planners at Cape Canaveral in concurrence with NASA MSC managers over the course of 27 days before the Apollo 11 launch. Real-Time Annotations There are 146 data logs, step-by-step completion checkmarks, and other annotations made in real time by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their mission across at least 17 of the pages. The pencil letters on the front cover read “OK EEA,” signifying that the manual was okayed by Edwin Eugene Aldrin before the Apollo 11 launch. The front cover of the flown Command Service Module flight plan bears the equivalent mark made by Command Module Pilot Michael Collins Flown flight manuals typically use Serial Number 1001, as here. Provenance Colonel Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin (b. 1930; faint pencil initials to top right corner of upper cover; full-page inscription signed “Buzz Aldrin” on the inside front cover, typed provenance letter signed on Aldrin stationery) – sold by Aldrin at a Los Angeles auction to the current owner in 2007. See also the 2012 Act of Congress, Pub