Sextant

Object Details

Manufacturer

Kollsman Instrument Company

Summary

Apollo astronauts navigated from Earth orbit to the Moon and back in part by taking star sightings. The Command Module contained a sextant and a scanning telescope for this purpose. Sightings taken by the astronauts with these devices were translated into data that was processed by the on-board digital computer.

This sextant may have flown on Apollo 4, an unmanned test flight. It was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum in 1972 from NASA.

Credit Line

Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Inventory Number

A19720301000

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

INSTRUMENTS-Navigational

Materials

Metal frame, glass optics, rubber eyepiece

Dimensions

3-D: 17.8 x 5.1 x 10.2cm (7 x 2 x 4 in.)

Country of Origin

Argentina(?)

See more items in

National Air and Space Museum Collection

National Air and Space Museum

Record ID

nasm_A19720301000

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9bb450b48-a701-4c57-9b29-a7839f511e7f