Apollo 16 Training-Used Lunar Map Plate
 
Here’s your chance to own a rare training-used Apollo lunar surface map plate, custom-signed by Apollo 16 LMP Charlie Duke with your choice of inscription!
 
The price already includes Duke’s signing fee—so for the price shown you’ll receive this chart with your choice of inscription (up to 10 words), along with Duke’s signature + Apollo 16 LMP.  If you’d like to purchase the map *unsigned*, just let me know and the signing fee will be subtracted and the plate will be sent to you immediately.
 
These plates come from the Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orbit Monitor Chart (SKB 32100122-384, Training Chart #5), used in crew training for the fifth lunar landing at Descartes.  Each plate shows a view of the lunar surface as seen during the descent, with significant landmarks labeled for quick references.  The orbital path of the lunar module, as well as time and distance scales, are overlayed on each plate in white.
 
Each single plate (which covers 1 minute of the descent trajectory toward Descartes) is ~7.75” x 10.5”; the double-plate set (which covers 2 minutes of the orbital flight path) measures ~10.5” x 15.5” — a perfect size for framing and display!  Double plates have a horizontal fold line between the plates; single plates have no fold lines. Condition of all plates is fine.
 
Once the maps have been signed and returned, they’ll be shipped out to you via USPS Priority Mail.  I hope to have the maps back in my hands within 2 weeks of mailing, but it could take a bit longer depending on Duke’s schedule
 
Each item will come with an Orbital Artifacts COA detailing provenance, along with supporting documents confirming training-used status.  All item are genuine and as-described, and come with a 100% guarantee of authenticity.
 
What is the LM Orbit Monitor Chart? — The Lunar Module “Orbital Monitor Chart” chart (from which this plate comes) covers the LM's ground track through the first complete lunar orbit before landing.  This is a flight-ready article, identical to the one used in lunar module Orion during its final descent to the Apollo 16 landing site in the Descartes Highlands.  It consists of 24 numbered printed B&W photographic panels, each  ~10.5" x 7.75”, taped together to form a continuous loop map that folds into a compact accordion-style book.  When folded, the crewmembers could view two panels at a time, showing the LM’s progress from West to East toward the landing site.  Unfolded, the complete series of maps measures ~186”.  
 
The chart was used for  lunar landmark identification and verification of LM positions above the surface prior to the lunar landing.  Each panel shows approximately 5500 square miles of the moon's surface, and the total area of the maps covers the sunlit portion of the near-side of the Moon covered by the LM before landing. Generated from unmanned Lunar Orbiter missions of 1966-67, the chart provided an accurate prediction of where the Lunar Module would be, and what features would be visible to the crew, at any time during the descent phase. During the flight period on this chart, the LM was face down which allowed Young and Duke to view these lunar features outside their windows.  
 
The LM’s groundtrack for certain revolutions is shown on the maps as bold white lines.  The left side of every other the panel shows the countdown in minutes (as the LM flies from east to west) before reaching the orbital position over the landing site, after which the count increases in minutes until reaching the eastern edge (limb) of the Moon. Longitude and latitude are shown numerically and in black lines on each panel, and a scale of distance on the surface (in nautical miles) is shown on every other panel.