| Houston, We Have A Collectible | |
| Collecting Apollo 13, Thirty+ Years Later |
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by Robert Pearlman
Ultimate Space Memorabilia
 The ultimate of Apollo 13 memorabilia, however, is "Odyssey." The cone-shaped Command Module is the only remnant of the Apollo 13 vehicle that was designed to survive reentry. "Aquarius", the mission's Lunar Module and the astronauts' lifeboat for much of the voyage home, was unfortunately destroyed upon contact with the Earth's atmosphere. After inspecting Odyssey for information leading to the cause of the explosion, NASA relinquished ownership of the spacecraft to the Smithsonian (as it does with most pieces of historical space hardware). Odyssey was placed on display at the Musee de l'air in Paris, France until the mid-nineties, when it was returned to the United States to be restored by the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center (where it currently resides
 These "spare" parts range from small squares of gold Kapton polyimide tape (part of the thermal protection system) collected by members of the recovery team to a complete stowage locker, removed after flight and recently auctioned by Christie's auction house for $35,000. Even the astronauts removed parts as souvenirs. After the mission, the crew mounted small fragments of flown material from both Odyssey and Aquarius (carried to Earth aboard the Command Module) to cards, which were in turn presented to key members of the launch and mission teams. They were a symbol of the crew's gratitude for returning them to Earth.
Conclusion
Continued on Page Five
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