Have you always dreamed of owning part of NASA spacecraft? Now is your chance, and at a fraction of its original cost!
Spacecraft for sale are widely available from various providers and can be tailored to carry cargo, scientific instruments (like cameras or telescopes ), people or all three at once.
Belgium is hosting an auction of a secondhand Soviet-era VA capsule. This spacecraft could transport cargo and passengers between Mir and International space stations.
Apollo 11 Command Module
Apollo 11 command module (CM) was the spacecraft that astronauts resided and worked from during their voyage to the Moon. As it became the first American spacecraft ever to land on its surface, this feat marked an early victory in America’s space race against Soviet Russia.
It was a conical-shaped spacecraft with five windows to offer breathtaking views of Earth and Moon from space, and also had a thick heat shield that protected crewmembers during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Piloted by astronaut Michael Collins, the CM orbited the Moon while astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored its surface. Following this exploration mission, Michael Collins then carried them back to their landing vessel that splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24th 1969.
Interior of CM provided space for two astronauts to live, work and sleep comfortably. A large control panel in front of the CM displayed all of the systems used by astronauts while flanking it were smaller control panels such as pilot’s controls for SIM film retrieval from storage, electrical power controls panels, environmental controls and communications controls. Furthermore, an extra vehicle bay contained 35.4-m main parachutes and two 25.4-m drogue parachutes while equipment bay housed Guidance and Navigation computer telescope sextant and Inertial Measurement Unit before ending up power supply, avionics & instrumentation bays.
Space Shuttle Columbia
After achieving success with both the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station projects, NASA began looking for ways to upgrade their orbiters fleet. They started considering designs for more reusable spacecraft but work was delayed due to budget restrictions.
Space Shuttle Columbia first flew for its maiden voyage on April 1981 and completed 27 missions before it was lost during its return flight on February 1, 2003. On Jan 16, STS-107 left Florida’s Kennedy Space Center carrying two Spacehab modules and seven astronauts: Commander Rick Husband; Pilot William McCool; Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and David Brown as well as payload specialist Ilan Ramon from Israel.
Columbia was fitted with the cutting-edge Multi-functional Electronic Display System, or MEDS, to replace older electromechanical dials and gauges. She also carried Chandra X-ray telescope which remains in orbit today to address some of space’s greatest mysteries.
STS-107 was an eight-day mission conducted by its crew, consisting of life sciences, physical science, and space research experiments spanning across eight disciplines. Unfortunately, upon reentry over Texas during reentry the shuttle broke apart into multiple pieces that littered much of southeastern parts of Texas – killing all seven astronauts aboard.
Space Shuttle Nose Landing Gear Tire
As with any vehicle’s tires, those of the Shuttle are subject to rigorous preflight testing. Their rubber ones are pressurized up to 310 psi of GN2 pressure before cold soaking for weeks while being checked for leaks – all of which ensure they can withstand the tremendous forces encountered when landing back on Earth’s runways.
Bias ply tires – which were only ever available on the Shuttle – were quite impressive when considering they could hold 15 percent more pressure than normal pickup truck tires would allow. One atmosphere of additional pressure equaled approximately 15 extra psi than would typically be found.
NASA designed its Tire Assault Vehicle (TAV), inspired by a German World War II Tiger tank model, to test tires. Dubbed “the TAV”, this miniature remote control tank contained live video feed and an electric drill which allowed engineers to determine whether an explosion might occur upon landing without risking putting themselves or the Shuttle at risk.