A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Space Science » History
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

"One small slip for a man"



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old May 13th 04, 02:31 PM
Jonathan Silverlight
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default "One small slip for a man"

When Buzz Aldrin was descending the ladder he had guidance from Neil.
But the first man on the Moon had absolutely no-one to help him do a
very awkward manoeuvre.
So what would have happened if he slipped and cracked his visor?
Please don't take this wrongly - I'm not being ghoulish and I'm
genuinely interested in a situation they must have considered.
--
Save the Hubble Space Telescope!
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.
  #3  
Old May 13th 04, 04:33 PM
Scott Hedrick
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote
in message ...
When Buzz Aldrin was descending the ladder he had guidance from Neil.
But the first man on the Moon had absolutely no-one to help him do a
very awkward manoeuvre.


Well, now, judging from the subject line, if he did then whoever was helping
Armstrong would have been looking up *his* slip...

So what would have happened if he slipped and cracked his visor?


He probably would have said something along the lines of "Oh, ****, I
cracked my visor!"


  #4  
Old May 13th 04, 05:10 PM
Henry Spencer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article ,
Jonathan Silverlight wrote:
When Buzz Aldrin was descending the ladder he had guidance from Neil.
But the first man on the Moon had absolutely no-one to help him do a
very awkward manoeuvre.
So what would have happened if he slipped and cracked his visor?


Bear in mind that those visors were polycarbonate, not glass, so they
don't crack easily. In fact, I think you would have to work pretty hard
to do more than mar the outer surface, especially in 1/6G where you don't
hit as hard after a slip.

That said, a cracked visor -- leaking air through the crack -- is not that
big a deal. One of the design criteria for the backpacks was operation
for some modest period of time -- half an hour? -- with a significant air
leak, to cover cases like a micrometeorite puncture of the suit.

So the answer is... His backpack automatically opens its valves wider to
cover the air loss, and sounds the alarm. He spends a moment confirming
the problem and probably grabbing a contingency sample of lunar soil, and
then heads back up the ladder. They seal the hatch and repressurize the
cabin, at which point the time pressure is off, and they and Mission
Control can consider options. Given that they've lost redundancy in a
number of areas -- Armstrong's suit is now usable only for short periods,
which means the suits are no longer available as part of backup plans for
various problems -- the answer is probably to abort the mission and head
for home with no unnecessary delays. (They would also probably tape over
the inside of the crack, to reduce leakage in the event that suit use
became necessary, but that wouldn't be something you could trust.)
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |
  #5  
Old May 13th 04, 07:23 PM
OM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 13 May 2004 16:10:05 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

(They would also probably tape over
the inside of the crack, to reduce leakage in the event that suit use
became necessary, but that wouldn't be something you could trust.)


....Which begs the question: Scotch Invisible or Duct?

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for |
http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr
  #6  
Old May 13th 04, 09:08 PM
Gene Seibel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Jonathan Silverlight wrote in message ...
When Buzz Aldrin was descending the ladder he had guidance from Neil.
But the first man on the Moon had absolutely no-one to help him do a
very awkward manoeuvre.
So what would have happened if he slipped and cracked his visor?
Please don't take this wrongly - I'm not being ghoulish and I'm
genuinely interested in a situation they must have considered.


At 1/6 G, a slip would have been pretty gentle.
--
Gene Seibel
Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.
  #7  
Old May 13th 04, 10:11 PM
Henry Spencer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article ,
OM om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org wrote:
(They would also probably tape over
the inside of the crack, to reduce leakage in the event that suit use
became necessary, but that wouldn't be something you could trust.)


...Which begs the question: Scotch Invisible or Duct?


Sounds like a question for Arabian's crew in the back room. :-)

If it was me on board and I had to make a snap choice, I'd say both, in
that order (the duct tape being wider).
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |
  #8  
Old May 13th 04, 11:01 PM
Alan Erskine
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote
in message ...
When Buzz Aldrin was descending the ladder he had guidance from Neil.
But the first man on the Moon had absolutely no-one to help him


Not quite true. Aldrin guided Armstrong from the right-hand position and
this can be clearly heard on the tapes. Go to ALSJ for more.


--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
"One Small step for man. One infinite leap, for the Human Race" timothy liverance History 1 May 13th 04 01:34 AM
Slip Sliding Away (Mars Rovers) Ron Astronomy Misc 16 March 14th 04 06:07 PM
Light Pollution - a small sucess Stargazer UK Astronomy 10 November 26th 03 10:29 AM
Small Tasco Cat Martin UK Astronomy 1 October 5th 03 07:08 AM
CalStar Ver. 4.0 An observing report. ( Long ) Rashad Al-Mansour Amateur Astronomy 0 October 4th 03 01:53 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:03 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.