Apollo Boilerplate Capsule in the Rocket Garden
- Hangar C, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Type: Dummy emergency rescue training capsule
This capsule was used during simulations designed to train land and sea rescue crews active during the Mercury U.S. manned space flight program. The boiler plate capsule was used in place of an actual capsule to prevent the possibility of damage to the expensive flight-ready versions.
The name “boilerplate” signifies that the capsules are made of boiler plate materials, a general term for metals having a thickness of 9/64 inch or greater. Other names given to these capsules are “mock-up” or “dummy”. In some instances, boiler plate capsules were flown atop rockets, intended to test the flight dynamics of the actual capsules prior to expending a flight-ready version.
The Apollo boilerplate capsule was formerly on display in the Pad 26B area of the museum until it was removed for restoration in 2008. It is one of a complete set of boilerplate capsules spanning the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.