Building an Apollo 11 Space Door for Project Egress
Still can't believe I got to do this! I contributed a part to Project Egress, a project by Tested, Adam Savage, and The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Project Egress is a collaboration that brings together over 40 different makers and maker spaces to build a replica of the command module hatch from Apollo 11. Each maker was assigned a different piece of the hatch, and all the parts will be assembled by Adam Savage, Jen Schachter, and Andrew Barth at The Smithsonian on July 18, 2019.
I made part number 34, one of the many linkages that connect around the perimeter of the hatch to allow the handle actuate the seal of the door. My part is 3D printed in PLA, and clad in brass, soldered with silver, and copper wire. I also added an NFC tag that can be scanned with a smartphone to pull up the Smithsonian’s webpage for Project Egress. I had fun in this video, but of course the Apollo command module hatch is more than just a “space door” - it is a historic piece of incredible engineering and design, born out of tragic loss and failure. Making this piece was a meditative exercise for me, and I really wanted to combine the technical precision of CAD and 3D printing with the organic, personal process of metalwork.
Huge thank you to Jen Schachter and Tested for organizing and overseeing this project, and Andrew Barth for his incredible 3D model of the hatch. Super excited to see the replica come together on build day!
More information about the Project Egress:
https://airandspace.si.edu/events/pro...
https://www.tested.com/science/space/...
Learn more about the hatch:
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection...
http://www.space1.com/pdf/news1296.pdf
NFC Tag is part no. 2800 from Adafruit: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2800...