You’d Never Guess What It Is
May 19, 2025
Source: Reddit
There’s this strange metal tank that’s been in our bedroom for five years. It was from my fiancée’s parents’ house after they sold the place. Her father told her it was from an airplane, and it was made of titanium. She rolled her eyes. “They lied all the time.”
I picked it up last week and saw there 1330-471116-3 stamped. I looked it up.
What I found? It is an Apollo RCS tank — as in, pure NASA spacecraft hardware.
What Is an Apollo RCS Tank?
it powered the Reaction Control System of the Apollo Service Module, which orbited the Moon while the Lunar Module descended. A flexible bladder in the tank and helium pressurant forced propellant to the small thrusters that controlled the spacecraft’s orientation.
Mine matches photos from space1.com almost exactly — same shape, same bolt pattern, mostly even down to the wear marks. The manufacturer constructed it from spacesuit-grade titanium, and it weighs around 5–7 pounds.
Her Dad Was Right
We followed him, thinking he was just making it sound cooler than it did. But he was spot-on. Actual space missions used these tanks. They demilitarized several, emptied them of ordnance, and then sold them as surplus.
This one likely came from a sale or from somebody connected to the aerospace industry. The bladder is gone, but the tank remains completely intact. And unmistakably real.
How Did It End Up Here?
Apparently purchased as excess or scrap in post Apollo sell-offs. After programs like Apollo ended, the hardware went to auction. Some ended up in museums. Others in private hands.
This one wound up in a garage. Then our bedroom.
Why It Matters
This tank was not built for show. It was designed to live through space. It stored volatile fuel, worked in a vacuum and contributed to missions we still reminisce about so many decades after the fact.
It’s a section of a spacecraft that once set its sights on the Moon. Now it’s in my house, near my bookshelf.
What Now?
No idea. It might stay where it is. Maybe I’ll display it better. I’m not selling it.
It’s beautiful, it’s authentic, and it reminds me that the most marvelous things can hide in plain sight.