Another recent find on eBay

Here’s a current auction on eBay (link while it lasts: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251218991245?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649).

Pictures and description:

Here is the second of a couple, obviously lightly used, NASA surplus scientific calculators along with its very clean carry case, HP 82041 charger and various user manuals. The user personal ID number is inscribed on title page of user guide, has property tag (permanently?) attached to case bottom and the inventory date tags are remaining.  The keyboard and case are in remarkably fine condition with few visible signs of use and the display is crisp and bright.  The NiCad batteries were dead and had to be replaced with new.   The original battery pack was carefully split along the seam to retain the original appearance. If properly maintained this rebuilt battery should provide years of continued service.  There is an HP serial number on case back – “1601A14183″ and ID # of 721 on the title page of user guide.  Thanks for your interest and good luck bidding.

HP-25

HP-25

HP-25

HP-25

HP-25

Recent find on eBay

It’s been awhile since I last posted in this blog. I decided to sell a few calculators today on eBay (a non-functional HP-67, a HP-41CV, a HP-38G, a HP-41 Surveryor I pac and a Sharp EL-5100) and I found by chance an auction about a vintage 1981 HP digest catalog with information about the HP-41C, HP-67 and HP-97 related to the space program. I do not have the money to buy the catalog (my other guitar hobby takes precedence these days) but the seller posted really big pics of the interesting information. I downloaded the pics and here they are…

For those interested in bidding on the catalog, here’s the link while it lasts:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1981-HP-Digest-Catalog-HP-41c-HP-67-HP-97-Rare-/220775559859?pt=Calculators&hash=item33673fb2b3#ht_1130wt_907

 

Last chapter on unidentified calculator

It seems we finally have a positive match for our unidentified calculator. Someone at HP Museum’s forum found these two models, Intermec 9444 and 9445. If you compare these closely to the original shuttle picture, you will notice that key layout and colors match, design matches and you can even almost match the logo.

UPDATE: a close examination of a high-def picture sent by NASA to the HP forum reveals that it clearly is an Intermec 9445.

Intermec 9444 and 9445

Another space-faring calculator

Are there any other brands beside HP and Elektronika that went into space?

Here’s some info from the Museum of Soviet Calculators:

A MIR calculator flew for one year in space. The property of Cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko. Offered with a letter of authentification from Romanenko’s son, in Russian with English translation. This calculator (Elektronika MK36) was used extensively by Romanenko for navigational and scientific work during his one-year flight aboard Space Station MIR in 1986 and 1987. This calculator covered more than 233,660,000 kilometers of space travel during its one-year orbital journey. A rare flown object from a Russian cosmonaut.

Elektronika Mk-36

Update on unidentified calculator

I ran this picture (also seen in this post) by the hpmuseum.org forum members:

Unknown "calculator"

There are many calculator collectors in there and I figured one of them might be able to identify the “calculator”. It seems it might not even be a calculator after all, contrary to what the NASA caption says. Member Joerg surmised that it might be a data collector such as those manufactured by Telxon:

Telxon PTC-710

The resemblance and design definitely are striking and I consider the “case” closed. An additional tidbit of information about the company Telxon which may be relevant to this matter was found on this webpage:

Telxon was started in Texas in 1969 as Electronic Laboratories, Inc. by engineers who developed data recording devices for NASA and the FAA, the company was a pioneer in the mobile information systems industry.

Aristo 80123: the slide rule to have

A slide rule designed by Aristo, a slide rule manufacturer, especially for Glenn L. Martin Company‘s engineers. This particular model was designed for calculations related to space travel and rocket engineering.

Some additional details about this model on this webpage.

Aristo 80123 front

Aristo 80123 back

Aristo 80123 gutter view

The Spacelab D1 mission

Thanks to Dan at hpmuseum.org’s forum, here’s a significant addition to this blog. The HP-41 was used by german astronaut Ernst Messerschmid for importing voltmeter readings in Spacelab D1.

Spacelab D1

Here’s the text from Deutsches Museum:

D1-SPACELAB Mission, 1985
Walcher Elektronik GmbH, Kirchheim, 1985
Hewlett-Packard, USA, 1984

The voltmeter is an instrument for measuring voltage and temperature. It contains an analog-to-digital converter that feeds the measured values to the calculator for processing. The calculator is a slightly modified standard HP 41 calculator.

Astronaut Ernst Messerschmid devised this voltmeter to be used for experiments in materials science aboard the 1985 German D1 mission.

Actual Spacelab D1 HP-41CX

Handwritten HP-41CX program listing and diagram

Ernst Messerschmid

Additional pictures taken by Dan at the Deutsches Museum:

Deutsches Museum HP-41CX exhibit

Deutsches Museum HP-41CX exhibit

Deutsches Museum HP-41CX exhibit