Project Apollo - 50 years
Discussion
Thought I'd start a specific thread on this as 2018/19 represents a significant historic anniversary in regards to the Apollo project. For example. on this day Apollo 8 entered orbit around the moon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDNyJPwcxE
I'll try and keep the thread running over the next few years as we pass each milestone. Contributions welcome of course - but can we try and keep conspiracy nonsense to a minimum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDNyJPwcxE
I'll try and keep the thread running over the next few years as we pass each milestone. Contributions welcome of course - but can we try and keep conspiracy nonsense to a minimum.
A thread in the style of the recent Falklands one might be an idea, some sort of diary based on when significant events occurred and then discussion around it?
I don't know how feasible that would be?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I don't know how feasible that would be?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Edited by Zetec-S on Thursday 20th December 13:02
Eric Mc said:
Thought I'd start a specific thread on this as 2018/19 represents a significant historic anniversary in regards to the Apollo project. For example. on this day Apollo 8 entered orbit around the moon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDNyJPwcxE
I'll try and keep the thread running over the next few years as we pass each milestone. Contributions welcome of course - but can we try and keep conspiracy nonsense to a minimum.
I thought 8 launched on the 21st and it was the 24th that we got Earth Rise?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDNyJPwcxE
I'll try and keep the thread running over the next few years as we pass each milestone. Contributions welcome of course - but can we try and keep conspiracy nonsense to a minimum.
I am totally fascinated by the space race from the 1960s. Currently 'celebrating' the forthcoming 50th anniversary with my nose in a very detailed booked i have borrowed (will post the name later). I was born in 1968 and just about remember some of the buzz from the last Apollo missions. My first year in primary school we built Saturn rockets from kitchen towel cardboard tubes. 
Getting Bryan May's stereo photograph book of the Moon for Christmas too.
Just been reading about the Gemini III and IV missions, so not quite at the Apollo chapter. I ought to speed up to Apollo 8 given the date just gone"
Getting Bryan May's stereo photograph book of the Moon for Christmas too.
Just been reading about the Gemini III and IV missions, so not quite at the Apollo chapter. I ought to speed up to Apollo 8 given the date just gone"
Beati Dogu said:
First men in space in 1961 to putting men on the moon in just 8 years was incredible.
This is one thing I can agree on, in this years electronic / digital technology was in its infancy. Which is one reason I can't get too excited about Space X and all the hyped up superstardom of Musk, he has the advantage of what is known about space launch along with the miniaturisation of flight systems and software that allows his organisation to produce the new launch platforms. Beati Dogu said:
First men in space in 1961 to putting men on the moon in just 8 years was incredible.
The Space Race was a proxy war - so the methods used to develop the technology required to get to the moon was funded on more or less a war footing.This day (24th December), Apollo 8 did indeed enter lunar orbit.
The irony is that this was a mission that was never envisaged in the original mission planning. None of the mission manifest that had been carefully laid out prior to the summer of 1968 included a mission where a Command/Service Module (CSM) would travel to the moon and enter orbit without a Lunar Module. Problems with the Lunar Module and fear that the Soviets would try to send a single cosmonaut around the moon sometime in the last quarter of 1968 encouraged NASA to revise their mission schedules and attempt a CSM lunar orbit only flight
Great thread Eric MC
Along time back we celebrated 3 men travelling from afar. 50 years back today 3 very brave men went even further and did the first epic space photo showing our place in the Universe
Following on the biblical theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFUx_KC1bHQ
Hair on the back of my neck still stand on end when hearing that. I was only 11 months old the first time around, so no hairs even on my head much. 50 years later not much hairs on my head much.
The amazing thing is, as Eric alluded to, was the Apollo fire less than 2 years back. Even with that and completely redesigning things to be safer they managed to get unmanned Saturns up in the next year or so to test it all out. And then got hit with the problems with Apollo 6 which did not go well at all.
That was April 1968 and yet with all those people and that brainpower they managed to get Apollo 7 up for 11th October 68 safely on the biggest rocket ever made that was also having a few issues. Very brave Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham. It was just a perfect mission after Apollo 6, the worst problem was the common cold
"Shortly after liftoff the commander, Schirra, reported he was developing a bad head cold. The next day the other two crew members also reported symptoms. The zero-gravity environment exacerbated the cold conditions because normal drainage of fluids from the head did not occur. "
Imagine zero gravity sneezing in that confined cockpit. It all went well though, landing summarised as
"During re-entry the astronauts did not wear their helmets to make it possible to properly clear their throats and ears"
Nice!
After that it was Apollo 8 turn for the most brave thing NASA and those three Astronauts did ever. It was such a step into the unknown racing against that end of the decade clock. Those were they days when things just had to be done, one way or another. Rather than "Make it So" from Startrek it was instead "Let's just go"
In hindsight from the comfy sofa of 2018 you would never have let Apollo 8 go to the moon. It was too big a step. It needed those times for it to happen. And it did happen, I feel sad for younger folk who feel doubt nowadays.
I was too young to know about these missions, my mission time on this earth was measured in days rather than the years it now does, but I do remember Saturn 1's returning from Skylab aged 4-5. 15 years later I did an astronomy degree.
15 years later I complain about too much rocketry on the PH science thread.....
Along time back we celebrated 3 men travelling from afar. 50 years back today 3 very brave men went even further and did the first epic space photo showing our place in the Universe
Following on the biblical theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFUx_KC1bHQ
Hair on the back of my neck still stand on end when hearing that. I was only 11 months old the first time around, so no hairs even on my head much. 50 years later not much hairs on my head much.
The amazing thing is, as Eric alluded to, was the Apollo fire less than 2 years back. Even with that and completely redesigning things to be safer they managed to get unmanned Saturns up in the next year or so to test it all out. And then got hit with the problems with Apollo 6 which did not go well at all.
That was April 1968 and yet with all those people and that brainpower they managed to get Apollo 7 up for 11th October 68 safely on the biggest rocket ever made that was also having a few issues. Very brave Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham. It was just a perfect mission after Apollo 6, the worst problem was the common cold
"Shortly after liftoff the commander, Schirra, reported he was developing a bad head cold. The next day the other two crew members also reported symptoms. The zero-gravity environment exacerbated the cold conditions because normal drainage of fluids from the head did not occur. "
Imagine zero gravity sneezing in that confined cockpit. It all went well though, landing summarised as
"During re-entry the astronauts did not wear their helmets to make it possible to properly clear their throats and ears"
Nice!
After that it was Apollo 8 turn for the most brave thing NASA and those three Astronauts did ever. It was such a step into the unknown racing against that end of the decade clock. Those were they days when things just had to be done, one way or another. Rather than "Make it So" from Startrek it was instead "Let's just go"
In hindsight from the comfy sofa of 2018 you would never have let Apollo 8 go to the moon. It was too big a step. It needed those times for it to happen. And it did happen, I feel sad for younger folk who feel doubt nowadays.
I was too young to know about these missions, my mission time on this earth was measured in days rather than the years it now does, but I do remember Saturn 1's returning from Skylab aged 4-5. 15 years later I did an astronomy degree.
15 years later I complain about too much rocketry on the PH science thread.....
Just a few points. The Command Module was not completely redesigned after the Apollo 1 fire. Apollo 1 was using an original Block 1 design of CSM. In 1962 it was realised that the original Block 1 design could not be used for the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous technique.It was decided that the CSM needed a makeover. After the fire the decision was made not to use Block 1 craft for manned flights - only Block 2s. In addition, more care was to taken in fire proofing the interior and a restriction was put on introducing flammable materials into the cockpit.
Eric Mc said:
Just a few points. The Command Module was not completely redesigned after the Apollo 1 fire. Apollo 1 was using an original Block 1 design of CSM. In 1962 it was realised that the original Block 1 design could not be used for the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous technique.It was decided that the CSM needed a makeover. After the fire the decision was made not to use Block 1 craft for manned flights - only Block 2s. In addition, more care was to taken in fire proofing the interior and a restriction was put on introducing flammable materials into the cockpit.
It still seems mad to use a pure oxygen environment but then again experiences in Russia against this were not known I believe. The wiring was not up to standard either, but it was very complex and done to a tough timescale.Yes - the Block 1 lacked the forward docking tunnel required for the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous mission profile, so the Block 2 was already underway by the time of the Apollo 1 fire. Following the fire the Block 1 CSM only ever flew unmanned, on Apollo 4, 6, and the un-numbered AS-201 & -202 flights.
The choice of a pure oxygen atmosphere followed on from similarly equipped Mercury and Gemini missions. It simplified the Environmental Control System, which only had to provide one gas, and allowed a lower cabin pressure of 5psi to be used and therefore reduced the weight of the cabin pressure vessel part of the CM.
The choice of a pure oxygen atmosphere followed on from similarly equipped Mercury and Gemini missions. It simplified the Environmental Control System, which only had to provide one gas, and allowed a lower cabin pressure of 5psi to be used and therefore reduced the weight of the cabin pressure vessel part of the CM.
It also allowed simple EVAs without the need for an airlock. All you had to do was depressurise the vehicle and open the door. If you use an air mix in the cabin, you have to pre-breath oxygen for hours in advance of the EVA and then you need an airlock to negate the need to depressurise the whole spacecraft. Fitting an airlock on Gemini or Apollo was just not feasible.
Eric Mc said:
It also allowed simple EVAs without the need for an airlock. All you had to do was depressurise the vehicle and open the door. If you use an air mix in the cabin, you have to pre-breath oxygen for hours in advance of the EVA and then you need an airlock to negate the need to depressurise the whole spacecraft. Fitting an airlock on Gemini or Apollo was just not feasible.
Again, because using lower pressure in the suits makes it easier to make them airtight as well as improving mobility - if you pump a 'soft' suit design up to 1 atm the astronaut would find it impossible to move as the suit would be incredibly stiff. If they decided to go to a full hardsuit design then they could run those at 1 atm while retaining the ability to move Even today EVA suits use pure oxygen at low pressure. But it means that the astronauts/cosmonauts have to spend a few hours acclimatising to the oxygen only atmosphere before they can commence the EVA.
There was a lot of good engineering sense sticking to a pure oxygen atmosphere PROVIDED strict safety procedures were followed. The problem with Apollo 1 was that they had got awfully sloppy and careless in regard to the pure oxygen atmosphere - especially as they were pumping the capsule up to 14psi when it was sitting on top of the rocket on the launch pad - effectively turning it into a bomb.
There was a lot of good engineering sense sticking to a pure oxygen atmosphere PROVIDED strict safety procedures were followed. The problem with Apollo 1 was that they had got awfully sloppy and careless in regard to the pure oxygen atmosphere - especially as they were pumping the capsule up to 14psi when it was sitting on top of the rocket on the launch pad - effectively turning it into a bomb.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6UuRCwsGugg
Found this on my suggested YouTube videos (amongst lots of other Apollo Concorde stuff!). What makes this different is it’s a documentary made before rather than after the event. Filmed just 3 years before Apollo 11 when there was clearly so much to still work out (And so much to change, like having just one astronaut walk on the moon (3:30)) that it makes it seem all the more incredible than the many retrospective documentaries. You can imagine watching it at the time and feeling sceptical about them hitting the ‘end of the decade’ target.
Off to watch some of the others now.
Found this on my suggested YouTube videos (amongst lots of other Apollo Concorde stuff!). What makes this different is it’s a documentary made before rather than after the event. Filmed just 3 years before Apollo 11 when there was clearly so much to still work out (And so much to change, like having just one astronaut walk on the moon (3:30)) that it makes it seem all the more incredible than the many retrospective documentaries. You can imagine watching it at the time and feeling sceptical about them hitting the ‘end of the decade’ target.
Off to watch some of the others now.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6UuRCwsGugg
Found this on my suggested YouTube videos (amongst lots of other Apollo Concorde stuff!). What makes this different is it’s a documentary made before rather than after the event. Filmed just 3 years before Apollo 11 when there was clearly so much to still work out (And so much to change, like having just one astronaut walk on the moon (3:30)) that it makes it seem all the more incredible than the many retrospective documentaries. You can imagine watching it at the time and feeling sceptical about them hitting the ‘end of the decade’ target.
Off to watch some of the others now.
Found this on my suggested YouTube videos (amongst lots of other Apollo Concorde stuff!). What makes this different is it’s a documentary made before rather than after the event. Filmed just 3 years before Apollo 11 when there was clearly so much to still work out (And so much to change, like having just one astronaut walk on the moon (3:30)) that it makes it seem all the more incredible than the many retrospective documentaries. You can imagine watching it at the time and feeling sceptical about them hitting the ‘end of the decade’ target.
Off to watch some of the others now.
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