Space program

Chuckman

Chuckman

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I love the space program in the history of it. So this year brings a lot of joy for me with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

Watching a show on PBS, they talked about Ed Dwight, a black Air Force pilot who was selected by the Kennedy administration for inclusion as a candidate for training, excluded in the pick of the first group of Apollo astronauts. I had no idea.

The show also discussed the political makeup of Congress, explain why all of the major NASA facilities were in the south, because the heads of most of the important committees we're from the south. Again, I had no idea.

Otherwise I think I have taped about 20 hours of shows about the space program and Apollo. I look forward to watching.
 
I never knew until recently that after Apollo 14, the subsequent missions to the moon involved an EVA when they were on their way back to Earth. Can you imagine floating outside the CSM 50,000 miles out from the moon and looking back at your partner and seeing the huge moon behind him? I think that was Charlie Duke looking at Ken Mattingly on Apollo 16 during an EVA when they were 170,000 miles from Earth. Fascinating stuff.
 
@Chuckman

I mentioned it in the TV/movies subforum, but have you watched the CNN documentary? All archival footage?
 
Chuckman said:
CNN, no. I've been taping stuff off of PBS and NatGeo. I'll have to look at CNN and see what comes on.
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It was amazing. Had no idea most of that footage existed. You only had to deal with the CNN logo and a ~30 second intro by Anderson Cooper. Everything else was actual footage.

I watched it on CNN On Demand on my DirecTV. Not sure if they have it online, or what options you have to watch it. Well worth the time.
 
BigWaylon said:
It was amazing. Had no idea most of that footage existed. You only had to deal with the CNN logo and a ~30 second intro by Anderson Cooper. Everything else was actual footage.

I watched it on CNN On Demand on my DirecTV. Not sure if they have it online, or what options you have to watch it. Well worth the time.
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I will have to see if I can find it now.
 
Chuckman said:
I love the space program in the history of it. So this year brings a lot of joy for me with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

The show also discussed the political makeup of Congress, explain why all of the major NASA facilities were in the south, because the heads of most of the important committees we're from the south. Again, I had no idea.
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If I'm not dismembering from my time with an "Anything Space" fetish of the 90's, there was another (physical power) reason for the locations of NASA facilities. The further South you go toward the Equator, the faster the earth rotates. Roughly 1,000 mph at the Equator. If you'll notice on all launch sequences, the spacecraft (Remember the Commander saying "Roger, Roll Program" right after Shuttle launch? It rolled to the East and oriented some of its antennas to the ground) always turns to the East in direction of Earth's movement soon after launch. So the craft gets close to a 1000mph boost in speed to help it to make orbit.

For the Apollo missions, a brilliant undertaking by brilliant kids....I think the average age of the brains behind the scenes during the moon landing missions was roughly 28 years old.

Damn, forgot how fascinated I was for that stuff.
 
The crew of Apollo 1
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Google Launches New Apollo 11 'Experiences' to Celebrate Moon Landing's 50th

https://www.space.com/apollo-11-moon-landing-google-experiences.html

The safety caverns below the launch complex 39.
https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1211/19rubberroom/

Inventing the Apollo spaceflight biomedical sensors.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/inventing-apollo-spaceflight-biomedical-sensors

Teflon's use in the Apollo program.
https://www.product-release.com/product-release-news/teflons-use-apollo-space-program/
 
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Very unfortunate to run 100% oxygen plus the hatch opened to the inside of the capsule, impossible to open when the fire was going full
and the pressure discs popped. The men did not burn, the suits protected them but they suffocated from the intense pressure.
 
Very telling that 1 of the voice overs, Michael Collins I think, said they would have never made it to the moon in the original design command module. The Frank Borman led post mortem of the fire gutted capsule revealed a workmans wrench left inside, uninsulated wire terminations, frayed wire insulation, highly flammable foam capsule insulation and of course the 100% oxygen environment. Might as well have been pressureized with gasoline.
 
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My fellow ham radio operator was hired by IBM right out of NCSU, his first assignment was at the KSC.
The team he was on was responsible for the launch controller computer system, after he arrived at the hotel, his manager left instructions for him to check in asap and head out to the the main gate at KSC, security directed him to drive down the road to the launch pad with the rocket in place! 'Oh boy this is GREAT'.
It was just after dark and the entire rocket and the launch pad was lighted up, you could see the escape cables.
The equipment was inside the bunker and was all on springs to dampen vibration.
 
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I sincerely hope the buzz and hoopla about space exploration takes hold and stays energized this time. The realist in me says Trump's current plan will be changed and/or scrapped by the next administration, as happens with every administration. The hurdle to get up and over is to get something significantly in motion and as free of trouble (i.e. schedule and budget overruns) as practically possible. I believe that's much harder to stop with the stroke of a pen.
 
More often than not, one of my bookshelves in my office generates a good space discussion:
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The Lego Saturn V and Apollo 11 Lunar Module are my showcase pieces! The bat/pumpkin and the Mustang are decoys for the little kids so I don't have to tackle them when they go for my rocket and/or LM!!! The paper models of the Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo capsules are from a special edition Field Notes notebook set.
 
You have to be there to fully appreciate all the hard work that went into this program.
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Button Pusher said:
You have to be there to fully appreciate all the hard work that went into this program.
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The view of the ass end of the Saturn V right when you walk into the exhibit hall, all five of those massive F-1’s...it’s tied for first with the view of Atlantis when the screen fades and you’re looking down the nose of the ship in its exhibit hall.
 
Te only thing missing from the Atlantis exhibit is a full-size mock-up of the crew deck and flight deck. It blows my mind how small they both are and how seven people would float around for two weeks in it. I'm floored that there weren't any space murders!

Los Angeles' exhibit will steal the show. They're doing a full-size shuttle stack mock-up for Endeavor. It will be about the only reason I'd ever want to go to LA.
endeavour-03.jpg
 
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