Smithsonian Releases Apollo 11 Command Module High Resolution Scans | Hacker News Reader

Smithsonian Releases Apollo 11 Command Module High Resolution Scans

3d.si.edu

93 pointsiamjeff24 comments

Well, sadly the 3d player thingy doesn't look particularly high-res; most switch labels etc are completely illegible.

I was disappointed too. It appears to be an Autodesk 3d model with some kind of scaling texture maps, instead of actual images.

I was also disappointed because I very much wanted to read everything, the controls but especially the checklists and placards.

Agreed... I am very disappointed myself as this looks like animated images and NOT actual scans.

If you read the explanation, the 3D player is low-res but they let you download the 2GB source data if you want to really play with it.

Select the Interior-VR option for the source images.

http://3d.si.edu/apollo11cm/boxes/play-cm-2016-09-26/cm-inte...

This is cool, but (as usual with the Smithsonian) they claim copyright and/or commercial usage restrictions on the downloadable data. I wish they wouldn't do that...

Why would anyone want commercial usage of their work without payment?

Isn't the Simthsonian a government entity?

It's a trust administered by the federal government but 1/3 of their funding is not by the government and not all their employees are federal workers.

The ORNL is funded by taxpayer money (80%) but they license technology they develop to companies even exclusively so it's seems the Smithsonian should be able to copyright their work.

I agree on the facts, but disagree on what they imply.

Shouldn't the copyright be owned by NASA though, which is required to release everything freely.

Nevermind. This was created entirely by the Smithsonian.

Better link: http://3d.si.edu/apollo11cm/

I don't know what else to say other than it's well-done and extremely cool. A+++, would click again. Man, not a square or cubic inch of that module went to waste.

That said, the page does frequently reload "due to a problem" on my iPad Air 2. Haven't tried on a non-mobile device yet.

It hangs for me in Chrome and works in Safari on MacOs Sierra. It uses all my CPU hand is initially very unresponsive. But after loading clicking the steps (play icon) works well. Cool to see all the control panels and subsystems.

Interesting how browsers react to it, on my phone (xiaomi mi note pro) in chrome it's stunning and smooth.

Interesting indeed, thanks for posting.

I'm overwhelmed by the plethora of switches and dials. Hard to believe that any one person really understood how every last part of the machine worked.

Also..... landing page. Lol.

wow incredible! i hope they do the LM next!

Scanning the Lunar Module would be slightly more difficult.

The lower half of Apollo's 11 LM (the "descent stage") was left on the surface of the moon at the landing site, and the upper half (aka "ascent stage", which rendezvoused with the Command Module) was jettisoned and left to crash back on the surface of the moon. The exact current location of the ascent stage, however, is officially "unknown".

Source: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apolloloc.html

Note that the lunar module currently on display in the Smithsonian (LM-2, an Earth-bound test article) was in fact reconstructed to match the Eagle (LM-5, used on Apollo 11) as closely as possible. It's not the original -- as you say, that would be difficult -- but I'd still be happy to see a scan of the LM sitting in their lobby.

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/curator’s-dilem...

Yes, a scan of LM-2 is better than nothing.

How to get these into the vive?

This is beautiful, but there's a more direct link here: http://3d.si.edu/apollo11cm/index.php

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