Ablative heatshield plug from the Apollo 10 Command Module Charlie Brown, 2.25˝ in length and 1.5˝ in diameter, engraved "10" on the metal end. The plug is housed in its original bag with an unfilled ‘Temporary Parts Removal Tag” from the Space Division of the North American Rockwell Corporation; the reverse of the tag is marked in felt tip, “CM 106, Apollo X, #10 Bolt Plug.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a signed biographical sheet from noted NASA engineer John Hirasaki, from whose personal collection this plug derives. Hirasaki is an American mechanical engineer (born 1941) who worked for NASA during the Apollo 11 mission. After the mission, he – along with Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and flight surgeon William Carpentier – became one of the first five known humans to view lunar rocks inside Earth's atmosphere when they were quarantined post-mission in the Mobile Quarantine Facility.
An exceptionally rare plug from the heatshield of the Apollo 10 Command Module (CM). This plug, #10, is one of 59 registered examples used to cover bolts attached to the blunt body ablative material on the ‘bottom’ of the CM. All plugs were removed post-flight to allow for analysis, processing, and decontamination of the module. Purportedly, 10 plugs were presented to VIPs, and, per astronaut Tom Stafford, five to six smaller segments (about the diameter of a cigarette) were given to each crew member. Further augmenting the plug’s uniqueness is its unencapsulated state, as many heatshield components were later encased in resin and Lucite for presentation.
