IEEE SPECTRUM magazine: Apollo 13, We Have a Solution

IEEE SPECTRUM magazine: Apollo 13, We Have a Solution

Rather than hurried improvisation, saving the crew of Apollo 13 took years
of preparation

By Stephen Cass [IEEE website has many illustrations and sidebar essays]

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...405napola.html



13 April 2005-"Houston, we've had a problem."

Thirty-five years ago today, these words marked the start of a crisis
that nearly killed three astronauts in outer space. In the four days that
followed, the world was transfixed as the crew of Apollo 13-Jim Lovell, Fred
Haise, and Jack Swigert-fought cold, fatigue, and uncertainty to bring their
crippled spacecraft home.

But the crew had an angel on their shoulders-in fact thousands of
them-in the form of the flight controllers of NASA's mission control and
supporting engineers scattered across the United States.

To the outsider, it looked like a stream of engineering miracles was
being pulled out of some magician's hat as mission control identified,
diagnosed, and worked around life-threatening problem after life-threatening
problem on the long road back to Earth.

From the navigation of a badly damaged spacecraft to impending carbon
dioxide poisoning, NASA's ground team worked around the clock to give the
Apollo 13 astronauts a fighting chance. But what was going on behind the
doors of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston-now Lyndon B. Johnson Space
Center-wasn't a trick, or even a case of engineers on an incredible lucky
streak. It was the manifestation of years of training, teamwork, discipline,
and foresight that to this day serves as a perfect example of how to do
high-risk endeavors right.

Many people are familiar with Apollo 13, thanks to the 1995 Ron Howard
movie of the same name. But as Howard himself was quick to point out when
the movie was released, it is a dramatization, not a documentary, and many
of the elements that mark the difference between Hollywood and real life are
omitted or altered. For this 35th anniversary of Apollo 13, IEEE Spectrum
spoke to some of the key figures in mission control to get the real story of
how they saved the day.



etc

"Jim Oberg" wrote:

IEEE SPECTRUM magazine: Apollo 13, We Have a Solution

Rather than hurried improvisation, saving the crew of Apollo 13 took years
of preparation
By Stephen Cass [IEEE website has many illustrations and sidebar essays]

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...405napola.html

Well worth reading, but little not long since discussed here. (The
views of the LM guys are however well worth reading, as we've heard
less from them than from the CSM guys.)

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
(The
views of the LM guys are however well worth reading, as we've heard
less from them than from the CSM guys.)

Didn't you see Apollo 13? The LM guys are goofy doofuses, either bad
*******s back in Mission Control, or math-deficient hicks in the spacecraft.

In article , "Scott Hedrick"
wrote:

"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
(The
views of the LM guys are however well worth reading, as we've heard
less from them than from the CSM guys.)

Didn't you see Apollo 13? The LM guys are goofy doofuses, either bad
*******s back in Mission Control, or math-deficient hicks in the spacecraft...

....as opposed to E2M, which depicts the LM guys as a band of noble genius
buccaneers living on the edge, and the LM as "engineering with soul". I
wonder, in all the ALSJ transcripts, there isn't at least one instance in
each of those missions where the crew didn't bid some sentimental farewell
to the LM.

Still, it's been a while since I've seen "Apollo 13", so I can't really
argue whether or not the LM guys in MC, or the LMP himself, were portrayed
badly.

--
"All over, people changing their votes,
along with their overcoats;
if Adolf Hitler flew in today,
they'd send a limousine anyway!" --the clash.
__________________________________________________ _________________
Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Mike Flugennock's Mikey'zine, dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:50:23 -0500, Mike Flugennock wrote
(in article ):

Still, it's been a while since I've seen "Apollo 13", so I can't really
argue whether or not the LM guys in MC, or the LMP himself, were portrayed
badly.

They were not. The Grumman corporate guy (a "suit") in MC was
portrayed as a weasel. Haise was portrayed very sympathetically -
arguably Bill Paxton's best performance since Private Hudson the space
Marine in "Aliens" ("Game over, man! Game over!")

--
Herb Schaltegger, GPG Key ID: BBF6FC1C
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin, 1759
http://www.angryherb.net

[quote=Jim Oberg]IEEE SPECTRUM magazine: Apollo 13, We Have a Solution

Rather than hurried improvisation, saving the crew of Apollo 13 took years
of preparation

By Stephen Cass [IEEE website has many illustrations and sidebar essays]

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...405napola.html



13 April 2005-"Houston, we've had a problem."

Thirty-five years ago today, these words marked the start of a crisis
that nearly killed three astronauts in outer space. In the four days that
followed, the world was transfixed as the crew of Apollo 13-Jim Lovell, Fred
Haise, and Jack Swigert-fought cold, fatigue, and uncertainty to bring their
crippled spacecraft home.

But the crew had an angel on their shoulders-in fact thousands of
them-in the form of the flight controllers of NASA's mission control and
supporting engineers scattered across the United States.

To the outsider, it looked like a stream of engineering miracles was
being pulled out of some magician's hat as mission control identified,
diagnosed, and worked around life-threatening problem after life-threatening
problem on the long road back to Earth.

From the navigation of a badly damaged spacecraft to impending carbon
dioxide poisoning, NASA's ground team worked around the clock to give the
Apollo 13 astronauts a fighting chance. But what was going on behind the
doors of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston-now Lyndon B. Johnson Space
Center-wasn't a trick, or even a case of engineers on an incredible lucky
streak. It was the manifestation of years of training, teamwork, discipline,
and foresight that to this day serves as a perfect example of how to do
high-risk endeavors right.

Many people are familiar with Apollo 13, thanks to the 1995 Ron Howard
movie of the same name. But as Howard himself was quick to point out when
the movie was released, it is a dramatization, not a documentary, and many
of the elements that mark the difference between Hollywood and real life are
omitted or altered. For this 35th anniversary of Apollo 13, IEEE Spectrum
spoke to some of the key figures in mission control to get the real story of
how they saved the day.



etc[/QUOTE
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim O is a dear and respected friend and I appreciate him posting the IEEE Spectrum story. It's one of the rare times that the LM Flight Controllers have some of their stories told. IMHO I believe Stephen Cass did a wonderful job squeezing this story down to the imposed 3,000 word limit.
Sy Liebergot "Apollo EECOM: Journey Of A Lifetime"
www.apolloeecom.com

From Sy Liebergot:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...405napola.html

Jim O is a dear and respected friend and I appreciate him posting the
IEEE Spectrum story. It's one of the rare times that the LM Flight
Controllers have some of their stories told. IMHO I believe Stephen
Cass did a wonderful job squeezing this story down to the imposed
3,000
word limit.

I would be very interested to hear how you feel about that article's
repeated use of the word "explosion".

I have a hunch that Balok would have objected.


~ CT

Originally Posted by Stuf4

From Sy Liebergot:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...405napola.html

Jim O is a dear and respected friend and I appreciate him posting the
IEEE Spectrum story. It's one of the rare times that the LM Flight
Controllers have some of their stories told. IMHO I believe Stephen
Cass did a wonderful job squeezing this story down to the imposed
3,000
word limit.

I would be very interested to hear how you feel about that article's
repeated use of the word "explosion".

I have a hunch that Balok would have objected.


~ CT

The word "explosion appears 19X.
Explosion
1. A release of mechanical, chemical, or nuclear energy in a sudden and often violent manner with the generation of high temperature and usually with the release of gases.
2. A violent bursting as a result of internal pressure.
3. The loud, sharp sound made as a result of either of these actions.

What's your point? It was indeed an explosion.
Balok was an alien.

What's your point? It was indeed an explosion.

Au Contraire, my understanding of the facts is that it was not an
explosion. Consider the quote that Cass himself provides in that IEEE
Spectrum article:
...
"there was a dull but definite bang-not much of
a vibration though...just a noise," said Apollo's 13's
commander, Lovell, afterward.

And here are some pertinent quotes from NASA's official "REPORT OF
APOLLO 13 REVIEW BOARD" (http://history.nasa.gov/ap13rb/ch1.pdf) that
have been posted:

"It is now clear that oxygen tank no. 2 or its associated tubing
lost pressure integrity because of combustion within the tank,
and that effects of oxygen escaping from the tank caused the
removal of the panel covering bay 4 and a relatively slow leak
in oxygen tank no. 1 or its lines or valves."

"After the relatively slow propagation process ... took
place, there was a relatively abrupt loss of oxygen tank no. 2
integrity. About 69 seconds after the pressure began to rise, it
reached the peak recorded, 1008 psia, the pressure at which the
cryogenic oxygen tank relief valve is designed to be fully open.
Pressure began a decrease for 8 seconds, dropping to 996 psia
before readings were lost."

"27. Findings

a. The pressure relief valve was designed to be fully open at
about 1000 psi.

b. Oxygen tank no. 2 telemetry showed a pressure drop from
1008 psia at 55:54:45 to 996 psia at 55:54:53, at which time
telemetry data were lost.

Determination

This drop resulted from the normal operation of the pressure
relief valve as verified in subsequent tests."

From p5-22, http://history.nasa.gov/ap13rb/ch5.pdf
____

Loss of O2 due to "normal operation of the pressure relief valve"
contrasts sharply with the standard story that "the tank exploded"...
Or as Cass writes on the sidebar of his article:
The resulting fire sent pressures within the tank through the
roof, and the tank blew up.
(http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...napolasb1.html)

I hope we can find agreement about the facts of the nature of the
Apollo 13 tank failure so that we can move forward to discussing the
ramifications of those facts. I don't know enough about the story of
those tanks to know the exact details, but I haven't ruled out the use
of Corbomite in the manufacturing...


~ CT

"Stuf4" wrote:
I hope we can find agreement about the facts of the nature
of the Apollo 13 tank failure

No, we will not agree with your attempts to re-define the English
language.

so that we can move forward to discussing the ramifications
of those facts.

The ramifications are well known. We have no need of your usual
attempts to twist reality.

I don't know enough about the story of those tanks to know the
exact details, but I haven't ruled out the use of Corbomite in
the manufacturing...

Try reading the accident reports.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL