Figures 1 and 2 · The commander's window at TLI and at entry
Two critical-maneuver views through the command module window: the translunar injection burn, 192 miles up, and entry, 302 miles up. Recomputed from the Apollo 11 trajectory; the stars and the window outline match, the drawn horizon does not.
Seen from the spacecraft’s reconstructed position: bodies include parallax, and stars behind the Earth or Moon are hidden.
Residuals: recreation vs. the TN D-6853 (1972) scan (at the figure's own inputs)
Body
Scan x, y (°)
Recreation x, y (°)
Δ (°)
Within 2°
Dnoces
29.41, 20.03
29.17, 19.71
0.40
Yes
Capella
21.94, -17.97
21.84, -17.98
0.09
Yes
Mirfak
31.04, -34.67
30.90, -34.92
0.29
Yes
Aldebaran
-7.61, -31.11
-7.19, -30.82
0.52
Yes
Venus
-4.22, -26.54
-4.17, -29.78
3.25
No
Procyon
-16.79, 15.07
-17.36, 14.84
0.61
Yes
Sun
0.30, 17.04
-1.18, 13.64
3.70
No
Sirius
-41.07, 2.92
-40.91, 3.16
0.28
Yes
Rigel
-33.83, -21.45
-33.40, -21.27
0.47
Yes
RMS 1.68°, max 3.70°. The attitude was fitted to this figure's labelled stars, so their residuals show the quality of that fit, not a prediction; the Sun, Moon and planets are predicted from it.
How it is recomputed
When. The figures print only the altitude. The time is where the reconstructed trajectory reaches it: 2 h 49 min 56 s (inside the TLI burn, 192 statute miles) and 195 h 00 min 05 s (302 statute miles, eleven minutes after the service module was jettisoned).
Which way the spacecraft points. Not printed. It is fitted from the labelled stars alone: 7 on each figure, landing within 0.41° RMS (Fig 1) and 0.36° (Fig 2). Because the stars set the attitude, their residuals show the quality of that fit, not a prediction; the window outline, the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the horizon are predicted.
The window. Both figures draw the commander’s window outline, for the left and the right eye. The plot is fixed to the spacecraft, so the same outline appears in the same place on both: the corners agree within 0.96° (test set before measuring: 2°). The outlines here are traced from Fig 2 and reused.
The Earth. Drawn from the spacecraft’s position at that moment; stars behind it are hidden.
What matches, and what does not
Stars and the window: as above.
The Moon and Mars on Fig 2 land within about 1° of the printed positions, consistent with the real date.
The Sun and Venus on Fig 1 are 3.5° and 3.1° from where they were on 16 July 1969. Moving the date three days later puts Venus within 0.3° and the Sun within 1.3° of the printed glyphs. Fig 1 seems to have been drawn with planet positions for about 19 July — perhaps from a study for a later launch day.
The Earth’s horizon misses the test set before measuring (1.0° RMS): 8.5° on Fig 1 and 8.4° on Fig 2. The printed horizons are accurate circles, but 44° and 39° in radius, where the Earth seen from those altitudes is 72.5° and 68.3° across (radius). The Moon on Figure 3b shows the same pattern (38° drawn, 70° true). The 1969 program’s horizon rule is not recovered; the recreation draws the geometric horizon, and the difference is recorded, not hidden. Fig 1’s terminator, drawn on that horizon, misses by the same token.
Limits
The night side is not stippled, and the Earth’s atmosphere band on Fig 2 is not drawn.
The window outline is traced from the 1969 plot (±0.5°), not taken from a drawing of the command module.