Rare and sizable piece of heat shield from the AS-202 (Apollo CSM-011) spacecraft, which launched from Cape Kennedy LC-34 on August 25, 1966, and splashed down one hour and 33 minutes later in the North Pacific Ocean. The fragment measures 3.75″ x 1.25″ x .25″ and is encased in a rectangular 4.5″ x 3.5″ x 1″ block of Lucite with descriptive labels from North American Aviation. In fine condition. AS-202 was the second uncrewed, suborbital test flight of a production Block I Apollo command and service module launched with the Saturn IB launch vehicle. It was the first flight to include the guidance and navigation control system and fuel cells, and its success enabled the Apollo program to determine that the Block I spacecraft and Saturn IB were ready to carry men into orbit on the next mission, AS-204, also known as Apollo 1.
