Flown "Pressure Equalization Valve" decal from the hatch of the Apollo 12 Command Module 'Yankee Clipper,' measuring 5.25″ x 6.25″, which was applied over the capsule’s exterior Kapton foil covering. It exhibits burn patterns and bubbling from the spacecraft's fiery descent through the atmosphere during its return to Earth. The decal identifies the location of the hatch's pressure equalization valve, which was used to equalize pressure between the cabin and outside, and could entirely vent cabin pressure in less than a minute. Inside the cabin, a handle would be raised and rotated to open the valve; externally, a tool could be inserted and rotated clockwise—as indicated on the decal—to rotate the same shaft and open the valve. The decal has inclusions (cutouts) to accommodate prelaunch placement of four radio-luminecent (radioactive) discs which provided an illuminated target for Tool B insertion by a crewmember during EVA. Handsomely matted and framed with an official NASA image (S69-22800) of the Apollo 12 recovery—in which this decal is clearly seen on the CM's open hatch—as well as a mission patch and caption to an overall size of 20 x 24. The caption reads: "This main hatch pressure equalization valve decal was removed from Apollo 12 Command Module 'Yankee Clipper' following its historic 10 day, 825,000 mile journey to the Moon." Consignor attests to decal having been removed from Yankee Clipper during the spacecraft's post-flight inspection at North American Rockwell, Downey, California, following the capsule's release from JSC quarantine on January 12, 1970.
