Eye Pieces, Sextant, Apollo Guidance and Navigation System
Object Details
- Manufacturer
- Kollsman Instrument Company
- Summary
- The Apollo spacecraft contained a separate, inertial guidance and navigation system that enabled its crew to navigate from Earth orbit to the Moon and back. It consisted of three principal parts. One was an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which contained gryoscopes and accelerometers that established a base position and attitude for the craft. The second was an optical unit, including a sextant, which allowed the astronauts to update the IMU's settings based on sightings of stars and planets. The third was a digital computer.
- This artifact is part of the Command Module's Sextant. It is an unflown back-up specimen.
- NASA transferred this object to the Museum in 2001.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Inventory Number
- A20010305001
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Guidance & Control
- Materials
- Metal plate, with glass optics
- Dimensions
- 3-D (L x W x H) (in storage box): 46 × 25.5 × 25.5cm (1 ft. 6 1/8 in. × 10 1/16 in. × 10 1/16 in.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A20010305001
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9bd1eba71-c742-4a01-b4f9-8a4d0fd143ce
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