The shuttle carried into a space a piece of wood from the original ship. ( Except it didn't )
"A block of wood from Cook's Endeavour is supplied by the Marine Museum of the Newport Historical Society in Rhode Island to fly aboard the Apollo 15 command module."
Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott was asked about the block of wood, it is square-shaped about 1.5 inches on each side and is currently in a plastic bag in Dave's possession, secure in a safety deposit box.On p.316 of Tracking Apollo to the Moon by Hamish Lindsay, it is written:
"The Apollo 15 crew took a small block of wood from the sternpost of Captain Cook's Endeavour.."
However, there may possibly be some doubt over the historical origin of the flown wood, as this account of the sternpost does not seem concordant with the latest RIMAP historical research.
In an article in "The Green Light: Bulletin of the Point Association of Newport Rhode Island" from June 1985, National Geographic's Kenneth Weaver is quoted:
Appropriately Apollo 15 is carrying a Cook Memento — a small block of wood — in a compartment of the command module. It is a piece of the sternpost of Cook's ENDEAVOUR, courtesy of the Marine Museum of the Newport Historical Society.
Source: Weaver, Kenneth (Feb 1972), "Apollo 15 Explores the Mountains of the Moon", The National Geographic, pp. 230–265.
At the rollout of Endeavour in April 1991, it was reported:
Robert Duce, dean of the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, presented Brandenstein with Endeavour's first "payload," part of the sternpost recovered from the shuttle's namesake, a sailing ship commanded by British explorer Capt. James Cook between 1768 and 1771.
The centuries-old remnant will be carried into orbit during Endeavour's first mission next March, a daring satellite repair mission featuring three spacewalks.
In NASA Space News Roundup, May 8, 1992, it was reported:
As the British captain sailed across the South Pacific in 1768, he may have wondered about sailing among the stars with which he marked his journey, but he probably never dreamed a spacecraft that would streak through the heavens above would be christened after the ship on which decks he stood.
The spirit of Cook will travel with the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its maiden voyage symbolically represented in by a small piece of stern post from Cook's Endeavour, on loan to NASA from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.
On wooden sailing vessels, the stern post was the vertical piece at the aft end of the ship, usually supporting the rudder. The particular piece of wood going with the STS-49 crew was presented to the university in 1976 at the christening ceremony for its research vessel Endeavor.
The stern post section was part of the Official Flight Kit in a middeck locker.
As an aside, on May 7 1992, on the maiden flight (STS-49) of Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour (OV-105), a wooden trunnel was flown aboard and now resides in the replica sailing ship Endeavour.
In an article in "The Green Light: Bulletin of the Point Association of Newport Rhode Island" from June 1985, National Geographic's Kenneth Weaver is quoted:
Appropriately Apollo 15 is carrying a Cook Memento — a small block of wood — in a compartment of the command module. It is a piece of the sternpost of Cook's ENDEAVOUR, courtesy of the Marine Museum of the Newport Historical Society.
Source: Weaver, Kenneth (Feb 1972), "Apollo 15 Explores the Mountains of the Moon", The National Geographic, pp. 230–265.
At the rollout of Endeavour in April 1991, it was reported:
Robert Duce, dean of the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, presented Brandenstein with Endeavour's first "payload," part of the sternpost recovered from the shuttle's namesake, a sailing ship commanded by British explorer Capt. James Cook between 1768 and 1771.
The centuries-old remnant will be carried into orbit during Endeavour's first mission next March, a daring satellite repair mission featuring three spacewalks.
In NASA Space News Roundup, May 8, 1992, it was reported:
As the British captain sailed across the South Pacific in 1768, he may have wondered about sailing among the stars with which he marked his journey, but he probably never dreamed a spacecraft that would streak through the heavens above would be christened after the ship on which decks he stood.
The spirit of Cook will travel with the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its maiden voyage symbolically represented in by a small piece of stern post from Cook's Endeavour, on loan to NASA from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.
On wooden sailing vessels, the stern post was the vertical piece at the aft end of the ship, usually supporting the rudder. The particular piece of wood going with the STS-49 crew was presented to the university in 1976 at the christening ceremony for its research vessel Endeavor.
The stern post section was part of the Official Flight Kit in a middeck locker.
Makes me wonder, what else have they sent up in space missions, that we never heard about? I did post about a bit of the Wright Brothers first airplane that went up.
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