Explore the Apollo 11 Command Module in 3D

[de officiis]

Explore the Apollo 11 Command Module in 3D

Forty-seven years ago, mankind achieved what was once unthinkable when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon. But getting him there involved more than strapping the astronaut to a rocket and pressing “go.” Armstrong and his colleagues headed to space in the most advanced spacecraft of their time: the Apollo 11 command module, Columbia. Now, you can explore the module without leaving your couch with the help of a newly-released 3D model that offers unprecedented access to one of history’s most important technological achievements—and the inside scoop on what it was really like to be an Apollo astronaut.

The model is the result of painstaking digitization efforts by the Smithsonian Institution, which houses Columbia at the National Air and Space Museum, and Autodesk, Inc. Given the complexity of the craft—and the fact that photographers weren’t allowed to actually touch it while capturing every nook and cranny—the 3D model is an impressive feat.

It’s available to anyone with an internet connection and offers glimpses unavailable to museum visitors, who are not allowed to explore the inside of the craft.

Takes awhile to load. Very impressive in full-screen mode. All I gotta say is, you had to have some pretty big balls to fly that thing.

[heydaralon]

The production quality for those moon landing videos is extraordinary! Its even more impressive when you look at the special effects of other movies during that period of time. The studios even managed to capture the low gravity of the moon on film. Well, its all speculation, but the directors had a fairly good idea of what the moon's gravity is probably like when they consulted scientists before filming.

[Fife]

[Okeefenokee]

damn bureaucrats.

[heydaralon]

Its weird how convincing that form looks. It looks quite similar to the real ones issued during that time period!

[BjornP]

Its weird how convincing that form looks. It looks quite similar to the real ones issued during that time period!

That's only because they spilled some coffee over some modern day paper. That can make any modern paper look, feel and smell like any old form of paper! All the archives with those other supposed "real ones" issued during that time period..? Just mass produced coffee stained modern paper.

[heydaralon]

What frustrates me is that we still dont have the technology to put a man in space, much less send him to the moon, yet we have all thos money for entitlement prograns and foreign wars. We could probably be the first country to send a man to the moon if we actually put more money into NASAs R and D budget instead of arming Syrian rebels.

[Fife]

What frustrates me is that we still dont have the technology to put a man in space, much less send him to the moon, yet we have all thos money for entitlement prograns and foreign wars. We could probably be the first country to send a man to the moon if we actually put more money into NASAs R and D budget instead of arming Syrian rebels.

[Okeefenokee]

[ssu]

What frustrates me is that we still dont have the technology to put a man in space, much less send him to the moon, yet we have all thos money for entitlement prograns and foreign wars. We could probably be the first country to send a man to the moon if we actually put more money into NASAs R and D budget instead of arming Syrian rebels.

It's likely that the last astronaut that visited the moon will die of old age before any new astronauts will venture further than the ISS. For all the positive talk, that's the likely scenario I think.

Real problem is what to do after the ISS gets too old.

It's a good example of actually how our culture isn't what is used to be and likely won't be anything what it was. We'll tell ourselves that everything can be done by robots so why send anything up their or to Mars. In the end, people will think about the Lunar landings in a negative way, as some form of imperialism/nationalistic hubris that has no importance. The perfect lie.