BP-1101 “Boilerplate” Capsule | Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum

Many of us remember the excitement of the Apollo missions that landed a dozen Americans on the Moon more than 50 years ago. The Apollo Command Module was the only part of the massive, skyscraper-sized Saturn V rocket that returned to Earth at the end of each flight. You can recognize an enlarged version of the Command Module’s cone shape in today’s Lockheed Martin Orion spacecraft and the Boeing Starliner.

This artifact looks very much like an actual Apollo Command Module, but it never carried astronauts into space. It is a boilerplate—a simplified metal model created to test specific aspects of the real spacecraft, such as water landings, launch abort escape rockets, or recovery systems. It duplicates the size, weight, shape, and center of gravity of the actual vehicle.

This particular boilerplate is BP-1101A. NASA used it for flotation tests in the Gulf of Mexico in July, 1965. After some modifications, NASA used it again for additional ocean testing in 1966 and 1967. In most photos of Apollo spacecraft floating in the ocean you can see large round balloons near the top. They pull the spacecraft right-side-up if it capsizes, and they were tested on this very boilerplate.

On loan from the National Air and Space Museum.

Capsule specifications:
Diameter: 12 ft 10 in (3.9 m)
Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.7 m)
Weight: Varied, approximately 10,000 lbs (4,536 kg)

Lowry - Denver

Air & Space Museum

Monday	10am-5pm
Tuesday	10am-5pm
Wednesday	10am-5pm
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Friday	10am-5pm
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Saturday Dec 2

9:30AM TO 12:30PM

Exploration of Flight

Breakfast Fly-In

Saturday, Dec 2 | 9:30AM to 12:30PM

Join Wings Over the Rockies Exploration of Flight for monthly fly-ins featuring planes, pilots and breakfast!

On the first Saturday of every month, enjoy breakfast from a local food truck, watch aircraft fly in and explore interactive exhibits and simulators.

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Saturday Dec 9

10:00AM TO 2:00PM

Air & Space Museum

Santa in the Hangar at the Museum

Saturday, Dec 9 | 10:00AM to 2:00PM

Join us for a day of family fun and celebrate the holiday season at Wings Over the Rockies™ Air & Space Museum. Arrive early to see Santa arrive in a helicopter at 10:00 a.m.!

Join us for various holiday-themed activities including:

Meet Santa & Mrs. Claus
Games and holiday crafts
Candy cane scavenger hunt
Select Open Cockpits
- Paser-Bushby Mustang II
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23
- Flight for Life AS316/318 Alouette III (Wheelchair accessible)
- Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
- LTV A-7D Corsair II
Pedal Planes
Discovery Carts
Magic show from Chad Wonder Magic
Photo Booth from Mihi Entertainment
Balloon Twisting from Clownin’ Around For Fun
And much more!