Country of Origin: Argentina(?)
Dimensions:
3-D Test: 17.8 x 5.1 x 10.2cm (7 x 2 x 4 in.)
Materials:
Metal frame, glass optics, rubber eyepiece
Apollo astronauts navigated from Earth orbit to the Moon and back in part by taking star sightings. The Command Module contained a sextant and a scanning telescope for this purpose. Sightings taken by the astronauts with these devices were translated into data that was processed by the on-board digital computer.
This sextant may have flown on Apollo 4, an unmanned test flight. It was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum in 1972 from NASA.
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
