"JF Mezei" wrote in message ...

On 2018-09-06 06:41, Jeff Findley wrote:

I's. Also, using a pure O2 atmosphere for a ground test at a relatively
high pressure was insanity.

If you go back to those times, was this truly a "failure of imagination"
as the actor said in "From the Earth to the Moon", or was it really
cutting corners due to tight schedule?

Was it just simpler to get the Apollo module to release O2 from its own
tanks to increase internal pressure compared to plugging in an external
hose to pressurize the module?

I believe the CSM was pressurized from outside and the unplugged (since it
was a plugs out test).


(also, wouldn't the module start off with 14.7psi of normal air (mostly
nitrogen) and then add 5PSI of O2? Or did they truly fill it with 100%
O2 as the various movies made it look?



They filled it with pure O2. The reason for overpressuring it was to get a
trust test of the pressure difference once in orbit.

In actual operation with the Block II CSM, they launched at 14.7 psi with
basically normal air and bled it down to the pure O2 PSI.

In terms of launch escape, again, going back to those times, did the
knowledge/technology exist to build launcgh escape systems?


Of course Mercury had one. Vostok had one.
Gemini had ejection seats; which failed in one test. Well the seats
apparently worked, but the hatches didn't properly eject.

The quotes associated with that was (apparently from John Young to Grissom)

"That's a hell of a headache, but a short one."

In Apollo era, there appeared to be a "launch abort" red button. Was
this a full fledged launch escape system that could bring capsule out of
harm's way and land peacefully in water next to the beach? Or was it a
limited system usable only during certain phases of flight?

Apollo had complete abort capability all the way to orbit.
It could be initiated by the onboard flight computer OR by the CMP.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_abort_modes has some details.

On the pad and at lower altitudes, basically the LES which was the structure
on top of the CSM which was basically a tower attached to the boost
protective cover would fire and and pull the CM away from the rest of the
stack. There was a SRM to make sure it was pulled to one side and not just
straight up (where an accelerating Saturn could then run into it).

Above a certain altitude the LES and boost protective cover would be
jettisoned.
In this case the CSM would use its engine to abort, or if high enough, the
S-IVB would attempt an abort to orbit.

Apollo had a fairly robust set of abort options.



--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net
IT Disaster Response -
https://www.amazon.com/Disaster-Resp...dp/1484221834/