Command module Columbia

The name Columbia was first suggested to Michael Collins by Julian Scheer, NASA assistant administrator of public affairs during the Apollo program. Scheer mentioned the name, in passing, in a phone conversation, saying "some of us up here have been kicking around Columbia." Collins initially thought it was "a bit pompous" but the name eventually stuck as he could not think of a better alternative and his crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong had no objections. Collins was also influenced to accept the name because of its similarity to Columbiad, the name of the space gun in Jules Verne's 1865 science fiction novel From the Earth to the Moon. == Post mission history ==

Following the mission and after a tour of U.S. cities, Columbia was given to the Smithsonian Institution in 1971. In July 2016, the Smithsonian released a 3D scan of Columbia produced by the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office. During the scanning process a number of places where the astronauts had written on the walls of the capsule were found. File:Columbia Command Module On Display 2024.jpg|Columbia Module in its new exhibit on display at the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. NASM-NASM2013-02663.jpg|Interior of the Command module ==See also==