Apollo 15 Lunar Module Flown Flashlight Directly from the Personal Collection of Mission Commander Dave Scott....

 

Apollo 15 Lunar Module Flown Flashlight Directly from the Personal Collection of Mission Commander Dave Scott. A heavy, brass-milled two-cell flashlight, 5.125" in length and with a maximum diameter of 1". The filament in the bulb appears to be intact but was not tested; the original batteries have been removed. The part number "ACR FA 5", serial number "1024", and date of manufacture "6/68" are all printed on the barrel. "On" and "Off" are printed near the head which rotates to turn on and off. A piece of Velcro is attached at the top near the lens. Very fine condition with just a small bit of verdigris on the small end.

Apollo astronauts were equipped with these small penlights for use throughout their mission. They proved to be quite handy for a variety of tasks. Apollo 15 was the first of the "J" missions with longer durations on the moon's surface and a greater focus on scientific experimentation and discovery. The Lunar Module Falcon was on the moon for two days and eighteen+ hours; Commander Scott and Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin spent more than eighteen hours actually on the lunar surface outside the craft.

Included with this lot is a signed letter of authenticity from Scott stating: "I hereby certify that the accompanying Brass Pen Light (Serial No. 1024) was used by me during the Apollo 15 exploration of the Hadley Apennine region of the Moon, July 30 - August 2, 1971. This Penlight was used on the lunar surface during our three days of exploration at the Hadley Apennine. To achieve proper rest between our EVA periods it was essential to simulate sleeping conditions as closely as possible to those so familiar on Earth. Therefore, upon returning to the Lunar Module (LM) after each day of surface EVA activity, the opaque window shades were drawn to produce total darkness inside the LM and the interior lights turned on to simulate evening on the Earth. Then when the lights were turned off during these 'night' rest periods, if either of us needed to illuminate something, only the penlight was used so as not to disturb the sleep of the other. Further, during lunar orbit operations of the LM prior to the landing, we spent an hour each revolution on the dark side of the Moon. In the event of electrical failure, the penlight would have been the only method of illuminating the essential checklists and cockpit switches that would have been required to recover from the failure. During the Apollo program, it was NASA's policy to allow astronauts to keep deposable equipment from their missions, as personal mementos to do with as they wish. As such, I retained this lunar surface penlight for my personal space collection, where it has remained since we returned from the Moon in August 1971. This Penlight (Serial No. 1024) remains one of the few Apollo mission flown artifacts that descended directly to the lunar surface. It is also one of the few objects to be personally flight-certified by the astronaut who actually carried it to the surface of the Moon." Estimate: .

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