Apollo 9 question (was: Will we ever get this group back on topic?)

....I'm watching "Spider" again for grins, and this one popped into my
mind: How separated were Gumdrop and Spider before the descent engine
was first fired? What was the minimum safe distance between the two
required before Gumdrop could initiate the burn?

Henry, I see your hand waving. Give someone else a chance to answer
for credit :-)

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

"OM" om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org wrote:

...I'm watching "Spider" again for grins, and this one popped into my
mind: How separated were Gumdrop and Spider before the descent engine
was first fired? What was the minimum safe distance between the two
required before Gumdrop could initiate the burn?

The PAO commentary mentioned three nautical miles after the Sep burn. The
pre-mission Press Kit says "less than two nautical miles". I imagine that
the "safe distance" could have been considerably closer than that.

--

Brian Lawrence

Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.677 / Virus Database: 439 - Release Date: 06/05/2004