NASA Toggle Switch, Space Shuttle, Apollo CM, Sim, Rockwell Surplus

Description

Up for auction is an ULTRA COOL and SUPER RARE piece of historic NASA space program hardware and a must have for any space flight fan! These toggle switches were manufactured for NASA by the Micro Swich division of Honeywell. This model was one of the final designs slated for flight use in the Apollo Block I CM, however due to technical issues and the tragic Apollo 1 fire, all flight rated switches were upgraded to fully hermetically sealed units manufactured by Klixon. These switches were not cheap in 1960’s money however they were cheaper than the flight rated units, and offered the same action, forces, switch tips, look & feel, etc., so they were used in ground based training equipment, simulators, mock-ups, etc. all throughout NASA’s facilities, as well as program Contractor and Subcontractor plants around the US all throughout Apollo, Skylab, and well into the Shuttle era.
This specific switch is a 2 position DPST/ ON - ON(momentary) switch rated for 5amps at 125-250VAC/28VDC, with screw type terminals, a red RTV based hermetically sealed lever and the iconic serrated paddle style tip unique to Apollo/Shuttle switches. It was purchased in a lot of similar switches in the 90’s at a surplus auction for Rockwell (formally North American Rockwell, prime contractor of the Apollo CM and Space Shuttle).
It is in excellent condition with no slop in the action and clean terminals with a date code putting its manufacture in mid to late 1979, right as KSC took delivery of the first shuttle “Columbia” and Skylab was crashing back to earth. With the first shuttle launch still 2 years away, 1979 was an increasingly busy time for Rockwell, NASA, and other contractors, with an enormous amount of work left to do in terms of training astronauts, certifying the orbiter and stack for flight, retrofitting the static test article-99 into shuttle “Challenger”, beginning the design and construction of the first manned maneuvering unit, and much more. While we don’t know exactly what it was used for, based on the age, condition, as well as the early space shuttle vintage switch guard installed (also in excellent condition), it seems likely this switch was either a spare, or installed in a lightly used engineering mock-up, ground training article, or other piece of non-flight equipment, but regardless it’s an amazing piece of history.
If you’ve never had the chance to flip a genuine NASA spec toggle switch before, it’s not like a normal toggle switch - the snap action is HEAVY and the detents are VERY positive. These switches are INCREDIBLY SATISFYING to flip and make an amazing, hands on centerpiece for any collection as well as an irreplaceable piece of NASA history so treat it well.
Free shipping to the Continental United States!