Yesterday, we celebrated the 47th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the historic initiative that landed astronauts on the moon. The only part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft to make it back to earth was the command module "Columbia," where astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin lived throughout the eight day mission.
Since its landing on July 24th, 1969, the Columbia has been kept sealed in plexiglass at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. That is, until recently, when the software company Autodesk was allowed a rare opportunity to use their high-tech 3D scanning equipment to create a simulation of the spacecraft that anyone on the internet can explore.
This was no easy feat. The spacecraft was tiny, with many nooks and crannies that required robotic equipment to explore. Autodesk ended up collecting 7 terabytes of data using many technologies, which they then had to laboriously piece together to form the 3D model.
Scanning the spacecraft revealed secrets that even the Smithsonian curators didn't know. They were able to see "graffiti" written by the crew members on the inside of the craft, including a calendar and notes on the transmissions between the Columbia and Earth.
Explore the inside of the Columbia and take a guided tour over at the Smithsonian Institute's website.
