There seems to be confusion about the final disposition of, and even the number of, Apollo Mission Simulators built by Link Flight Simulation Division. This question is not about any simulator built by any other organization.
As a former Link employee after the Apollo era, I always believed that there were four Apollo Mission Simulators - two Command Module Mission Simulators (CMS) and two Lunar Module Mission Simulators (LMS). One CMS and one LMS was located at Kennedy Space Center (KSC); one CMS and one LMS was located at the Manned Spacecraft/Johnson Spaceflight Center (JSC). This picture shows the two simulators located at KSC.
Here's what I thought about the disposition of the simulators
- JSC LMS - in the museum at Marshall Space Flight Center (I have confirmed this personally)
- JSC CMS - in the Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma City
(These two simulators look very little like the historical image above. All the visual equipment has been removed and they look like small, stripped-down versions of the flight modules)
KSC LMS - Owned by the National Air and Space Museum, loaned to and on display in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, New York
KSC CMS - Owned by the National Air and Space Museum, in storage in the Paul Garber Facility
BUT
- The Techworks Museum in Binghamton, New York, claims to have a Link Lunar Module simulator.
- This official NASA history of computers at NASA states that there were two CMS's at KSC.
Does anyone know how many Link-built Apollo Mission simulators there are, and where they ended up?
Additional, possibly useful info (links only, so this question doesn't get huge)
- Historical picture of the JSC CMS
- Historical picture of the JSC LMS
- Historical picture of the KSC LMS
(You can tell if a historical simulator picture is from KSC or JSC by the walls of the simulator room. The KSC walls are covered by smooth, acoustical tile or mesh. The JSC walls are less finished with exposed girders and roll-up doors. The access steps to the CMS are also different in the two facilities.)
- KSC LMS writeup from the Cradle of Aviation museum. It claims only one LMS was built.
- Article on the JSC CMS from the Field Guide to American Spacecraft. One of the museum signs pictured claims three CMS's were built.
- Article on the JSC LMS (not named as such) at the Marshall museum. From the Field Guide to American Spacecraft.
- Techworks Museum page on the LMS
- A Link press release from 1968 describing the simulators. Annoyingly, doesn't say how many there were.
