Project Egress
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon in July 2019, Adam Savage recruited me and a team of 40+ makers from around the country to build a replica of the Apollo 11 Command Module hatch. My main role was ‘Mission Control’ - managing the project and communicating with our team of remote builders from ‘takeoff’ to ‘landing’.
The process started with 3D scan data collected by the Smithsonian Digitization Program Office. Engineer Andrew Barth used the data and original drawings from the Smithsonian archives to directly model the entire hatch, one intricate mechanical component at a time. (See his incredible 3D models and renderings below).
I developed a system to share Andrew’s 3D model with each artist, who then fabricated one assembly in a medium of their choice. Within a month of launch, all the parts were shipped to the National Air and Space Museum in DC, where Adam, Andrew, and I assembled the hatch in front of a live audience amid the excitement of all the Apollo 50 celebrations!
Photo by Estefannie Explains It All.
Photo by Estefannie Explains It All.
