Beschreibung:

FLOWN ON APOLLO 13 – Sun shade component. A flown window shade component from the Apollo 13 Lunar Module. Fred Haise, along with the rest of the Apollo 13 crew, spent most of the mission aboard the Lunar Module because the Service Module had lost electrical power, and thus, heat. [With:] Fred HAISE's signed provenance letter explaining the mechanics behind the component: " It was attached along the LM’s lower window framing just at the window’s lower edge. This base component assisted both holding the entire shade in place, either fully unrolled to cover the window or rolled and secured at the window base. There were two of these base components, one for my right side window and the other for Jim Lovell’s left side window in our Lunar Module we named Aquarius. The actual shade was made from a very light weight and flexible material called Aclar. The outer facing side had highly reflective metallic coatings. We could cover the window just by unrolling the shade, flatten against the window at attach the upper parts of the window frame with velcro fasteners. The Apollo 13 flight was scheduled to be the third manned lunar landing mission, but those plans were cancelled due to an oxygen tank explosion in the Service Module. James Lovell Jack Swigert, and I used the Lunar Module as a 'life boat' during the four day flight around the Moon and back to Earth. This is one of the few surviving Aquarius artifacts to return from our flight. This base component secured the shade mostly in the down position because due to electrical power conservation, the LM got very cold. Sunlight helped to warm the LM and provide light for photography." 23 inches long, 1 3/8 in wide (2 5/8 in. wide at each end) constructed of fabric with clear plastic coating, with white thread stitching at edges and reddish brown printed identification on the reverse: "LDW 3 9-54450-5".