Technically could the LM upper stage engines

be fired by ground control?

I often wondered if there was ANYWAY apollo 13s LM could of been put
in heliospheric orbit

On Jul 26, 7:08�pm, " wrote:
be fired by ground control?

I often wondered if there was ANYWAY apollo 13s LM could of been put
in heliospheric orbit

or say the crew quit responding from the surface, could nasa have
commanded the upper stage to take off and then have the CM attempt to
dock to find out whats going on

On Jul 26, 10:57*pm, bob haller wrote:
On Jul 26, 7:08 pm, " wrote:

be fired by ground control?

I often wondered if there was ANYWAY apollo 13s LM could of been put
in heliospheric orbit

To quote Henry Spencer:

In article 12c6gd79jaca29f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Pat Flannery flanner@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

What the hell is a "helium disc" and why is is it no big deal if one bursts?

That's the burst disc that vents overpressure in the descent-stage
tank
pressurization system -- the one cryogenic system in the LM. It was
never
intended to be in continued use that long after launch, and its
pressure
had been climbing for some time, so they'd been expecting it to blow.
It
wasn't a big deal because they had no plans to use the descent engine
again. (Using the descent engine without the helium system -- with the
propellant tanks pressurized by just the helium already in them -- was
possible in theory, but a bit iffy.)

http://sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/.../msg00108.html
--------------------

So, once that helium disc burst in the LM Descent Stage, use of the
DS motor was off of the table. It's not like the A13 crew didn't
already
have enough to do, without adding never tried or simulated tasks such
as firing a DS engine after disc rupture, or any LM staging where such
staging was *unnecessary* to the task of Get The Crew Home.

or say the crew quit responding from the surface, could nasa have
commanded the upper stage to take off and then have the CM attempt
to dock to find out whats going on

No.

Andre

On Jul 26, 4:08*pm, " wrote:
be fired by ground control?

I often wondered if there was ANYWAY apollo 13s LM could of been put
in heliospheric orbit

The entire Apollo mission could be remote flown, except while on the
backside.

The crew was along for the ride and otherwise as backup should
something fail.

~ BG

"Andre Lieven" wrote:

or say the crew quit responding from the surface, could nasa have
commanded the upper stage to take off and then have the CM attempt
to dock to find out whats going on

No.

++++++++++

How was Apollo 5, the first in-flight, un-manned test of the Lunar Module
flown which included both descent and ascent stage firings?

T.B.

On Jul 28, 6:56*pm, "The Mighty T.B."
wrote:
"Andre Lieven" wrote:
or say the crew quit responding from the surface, could nasa have
commanded the upper stage to take off and then have the CM attempt
to dock to find out whats going on

No.

++++++++++

How was Apollo 5, the first in-flight, un-manned test of the Lunar
Module flown which included both descent and ascent stage firings?

1) Specialised equipment to automate what would otherwise be man
operated,

2) Operations that were in Low Earth Orbit, and

2) A set of maneuvers carried out that was far less complex than what
was involved in an actual ascent from the Lunar surface.

Apollo CSMs were also tested first in unmanned flights, but that
doesn't mean that an unmanned CSM was capable of flying to the
Moon without a crew.

Notice that the Descent Propulsion System was only fired for a
fraction of the time that a full lunar landing would requi

"A planned descent propulsion system (DPS) of 39 seconds was
cut short after only 4 seconds. The burn was designed to simulate
deceleration for descent to the lunar surface, but was stopped
prematurely due to overly conservative programming of the flight
software. An alternate flight plan was put into effect, in which the
DPS fired for 26 seconds at 10% thrust and then for 7 seconds
at maximum thrust. A third DPS firing was performed 32 seconds
later, consisting of a 26 second burn at 10% thrust and 2
seconds at maximum thrust, followed by a burn to simulate an
abort during the landing phase, in which the ascent propulsion
system (APS) was ignited simultaneously with the DPS being
shut down. The APS burn lasted 60 seconds, followed by a
6 min 23 sec firing which depleted APS fuel."

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/space...o?id=1968-007A

And, LM-1 flew with aluminum covers in place of her windows, too.

Andre

Andre Lieven wrote:
On Jul 28, 6:56 pm, "The Mighty T.B."
wrote:
"Andre Lieven" wrote:
or say the crew quit responding from the surface, could nasa have
commanded the upper stage to take off and then have the CM attempt
to dock to find out whats going on
No.

++++++++++

How was Apollo 5, the first in-flight, un-manned test of the Lunar
Module flown which included both descent and ascent stage firings?

1) Specialised equipment to automate what would otherwise be man
operated,

Specifically, Apollo 5's LM had this box that the other LMs lacked:

http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19750013238