The main control panel of the spacecraft contains essential switches and indicators that had to be referred to and operated during the most crucial aspects of the flight. Numbers and references written by hand onto the panel can be checked against the audio and written transcripts from the mission to provide a more vivid picture of just what transpired. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

There were no envelopes on the Apollo 11 Command ModuleColumbia, so Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins did their math calculations right on the interior paneling of the spacecraft. Collins, the lone pilot of the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin were walking on the moon, famously inscribed a message on the interior of the command module: "Spacecraft 107, alias Apollo 11, alias 'Columbia.' The Best Ship to Come Down the Line. God Bless Her. Michael Collins CMP." Now, curators at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum have discovered more impromptu writings from the astronauts. There's nothing quite so poetic here, but these notes, scribblings, and a calendar have been hidden for more than 40 years, waiting to be rediscovered.

The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia went on a tour of American cities after it returned to Earth, and then it was sent to the Smithsonian in 1970. The new writings were only discovered as curators prepared the spacecraft for a project at the National Air and Space Museum to create a 3D model of theColumbia for 3D printing—something they have also done with Chuck Yeager's X-1, the first plane to break the sound barrier.

Among the newly discovered notes are a series of numbers scrawled on a white panel just to the left of the navigation station where Collins would have stood to use the spacecraft's telescope and sextant. How exactly Collins located the Lunar Module Eagle on the surface of the moon has often puzzled historians of the Apollo 11 mission. It appears that some of these numbers are coordinates given to Collins by Houston that he transferred to this map in an attempt to locate the Eagle.

On this panel, numbers and other notations copied from mission control voice transmissions were recorded in pen or pencil, just to the left of where Command Module pilot, Michael Collins, would have stood using the spacecraft's sextant and telescope for n Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The astronauts also customized the storage system of the spacecraft a bit. Everything on the command module had its place, a locker or storage bin for every piece of equipment that went to the moon. But locker R5—officially labeled "WMS FILTER, UT STRAPS, RET STRAPS"—has the words "Launch Day Urine Bags" jotted on it in all caps. The astronauts apparently filled this and one other compartment before or during the early stages of flight when the waste disposal system wasn't available yet, according to the National Air and Space Museum.

These notes illustrate improvisation during the mission and modification of pre-flight plans for what items were to be placed in each locker. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

A calendar was also discovered under one of the lockers that shows the days of the mission crossed out, except for July 24, the day Columbia had its splashdown into the Pacific Ocean in 1969. Upon further inspection, the Smithsonian discovered that the calendar can be seen in a photo of the command module taken during a quarantine period immediately after the spacecraft returned to Earth.

Each day of the Apollo 11 mission is crossed out except for landing day. The calendar is covered with a plastic sheet held by tape. Museum curators are in the process of determining just when the calendar was drawn. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

This image was taken during the quarantine period and shows the condition of the cabin shortly after its arrival back in the country. Note the calendar visible just to the left of John Hirasaki, who was given the job of removing essential items. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

It is unclear exactly which astronaut wrote what, except for the coordinates that Mike Collins scribbled on the panel near the navigation station. The Smithsonian is working to discover the stories behind the spacecraft graffiti using audio recordings from the mission. These newly found writings can provide more complete picture of the first mission to the moon.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

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