Apollo Rescue Mission

Apollo 11 Rescue Mission

After making the first manned trip to the moon, Apollo 11 returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969. In this set we find the Apollo command module floating in the Pacific Ocean, while the astronauts are rescued by divers and a helicopter from the Navy.

This is a tribute to the courage of the astronauts of Apollo 11 mission. They not only got a great step for mankind on the moon, but also returned safely to Earth. It is also a tribute to all civilian and military personnel who participated in the Apollo Program, especially the people who worked on the rescue team.

Description of the set

The command module is a cone-shaped spacecraft, and has a hatch that can be opened. The details of the interior of the command module can be seen. Inside the command module has controls and computers and it fit all 3 astronauts seated.

On top the command module has 3 white floats, these floats were inflated when the module was submerged and allowed him to rise to the surface and positioned properly with its apex upward. Navy divers placed a ring of orange floats around the command module, to stabilize it.

To rescue the astronauts the rescue team used two inflatable boats, one boat was used for biological decontamination and the other to put astronauts on the rescue net that was uploaded to the rescue helicopter (a Sikorsky Sea King nicknamed Helo 66). It was very important that the astronauts were taken from the command module as quickly as possible, because there was a high risk of explosion due to rocket fuel that remained in its tanks.

The astronauts were upload to the rescue helicopter one by one, and then they were taken to the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, positioned a few miles from the command module. The command module was also recovered and upload to the aircraft carrier.

The set has 10 minifigures: 3 astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins), a specialist in decontamination (LT Clancy Hatleberg), 2 divers, a sailor, the pilot of Helo 66 (CDR Don Jones), the co-pilot of the helicopter and helicopter crewman.

Brick count:
Apollo command module, 573 bricks
Helicopter, 476 bricks
Boats and rescue net, 116 bricks
Complete set, 1165 bricks

This set is not only a very accurate reproduction of this historic moment, I think It will like very much to lovers of space exploration and Lego fans, children and adults will play to relive different stages of rescue and will learn a lot about the history of space exploration and recovery operations.

You can get high resolution pictures of the project from my flickr album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5MyTiD

This project could become an official Lego set if it gathers 10,000 votes. Voting is easy, free and without any obligation, you just have to press the blue button "Support". If you do not have an account on LEGO Ideas, you must register, you will receive an email to activate your account and then you can already vote. Also you can help a lot by sharing the idea in Facebook and Twitter with your friends and invite them to vote.

Thanks for your support!

Luis