From The Altoona Mirror, August 4, 2019:
"Historic NASA test capsule coming to AASD
Item to be restored, used in new teaching curriculum. A 9,000-pound cone-shaped hunk of metal rusting away on a Mercer County farm for about 25 years is as substantial for its historical importance as it is for its weight, though it has been long overlooked until now.
The object is a capsule that was designed by NASA as a test dummy for what would become the actual command module nicknamed “Columbia,” which was the portion of the Apollo 11 spacecraft that splashed down safely in 1969 with three astronauts, including two who walked on the moon.
To safeguard man’s return to Earth from the moon, NASA engineered and tested multiple “boilerplates” under extreme conditions, including the one that is soon to become a permanent fixture at Altoona Area Senior High School. Altoona Area astronomy teacher Jim Krug is taking on the task of restoring the capsule and using it as a teaching tool.
Krug plans to use the piece of history to develop a new curriculum that could be launched nationwide.
NASA made 26 boilerplate models for different testing purposes, he said. Some were used to practice egress — how to exit the capsule.
The specific testing purpose of the capsule he is set to receive was most likely for naval recovery practice, he said.
“I believe there are less than 10 known today,” Krug said. “They are special pieces of history.”
With the renovation of the Altoona Area High School complex, the planetarium’s museum space is planned to double. That’s where the capsule will be relocated for tours by students and the public, Krug said.
“This would be the first time they could literally immerse themselves in history,” he said, envisioning students taking a seat inside the capsule once it is restored.
Krug has become synonymous with space education in Altoona. He operates the district’s planetarium and was responsible a year ago for opening the Mountain Lion Observatory at Fort Roberdeau.
A local man with a hobby in naval salvage and two daughters interested in space exploration led Krug to the capsule.
Mark Koch of Altoona and his daughters had visited the capsule at the farm where it sat. Koch’s friend David Allen, a senior lecturer at the State University of New York Maritime College in the Bronx, had located the capsule and purchased it with intentions of selling it to Koch so that his daughters could enjoy it.
Koch said he introduced himself to Krug one day after Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church in Lakemont and showed him a photo of the capsule and asked if he had a place for it.
“Jim’s eyes got big as saucers. He said he had just the place for it. I said ‘all right. It’s a positive for everyone. I’ll get it painted and to you in pristine condition.'”
Koch said a crane is lined up to move the capsule to a truck for delivery to Blairsville for restoration. From there, it will be transferred to Altoona Area High School.
“We hope to have the capsule transported to the restoration facility within the next two weeks. … The capsule was legally sold to myself, establishing legal ownership. We have a paper trail going back to the ’70s,” Koch said. “I hope to have all the logistics worked out next week. We want to have the capsule delivered to (Krug) freshly painted and ready to be displayed by the end of the month.”
Krug reached out to Kay Taylor, U.S. Space and Rocket Center director of education, in Huntsville, Ala., to partner with the restoration project.
For 50 years, the center has been telling NASA’s story. The center functions as an educational resource and a showcase for what NASA has done and is doing, Taylor said.
“So when we heard about this capsule and restored as a part of a school project, that was exciting. … What Jim is proposing — a restoration project within the school district — will be a historical, technological, engineering challenge,” Taylor said. “It will be spiritually fulfilling. They will have the capability to work on a piece of history and bring it back.”
Taylor said she has pledged technical support to Krug for the project. For example, there are questions about the paint configuration in the restoration process.
Krug not only wants to restore the outside of the capsule, it has a hatch, and in the long-term, he said he’d like to restore the inside and add replicas of seats and instrument panels and have ways for visitors to get inside to see what it would be like.
Taylor said it is common for pieces of history like the capsules to be sold off or destroyed.
NASA and companies like Boeing have warehouses of hardware that is collecting dust. Krug’s aim is to get them out to learning institutions and incorporate them into science, technology, engineering and math programs.
Currently, Taylor is waiting for Krug’s signal for how she can assist him, she said, as he designs an interactive curriculum around the historic capsule.
“I did say it is such an amazing idea to bring artifacts into schools and engage students. … It’s stunning in its audacity. It is a bold move,” Taylor said. “Jim Krug is in position to build a template for project-based learning with historic artifacts.”
Mirror Staff Writer Russ O’Reilly is at 946-7435.