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The unrecognized decision that saved Apollo 13
BBC ^ | 14 Apr, 2016 | William Park

Posted on 04/15/2016 5:23:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber

click here to read article


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1 posted on 04/15/2016 5:23:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

The three landing methods were Direct Approach, Earth orbit rendezvous and Lunar orbit rendezvous. The Lunar orbit rendezvous was the one chosen for moon landings and is the only one that would allow the Apollo 13 crew to survive the oxygen tank explosion and return to Earth. A very interesting article!!!


2 posted on 04/15/2016 5:27:17 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

An irritating Apollo 13 movie note: in the movie, once they power down, everything gets cold and wet “because there’s no heat.” Why this was allowed is beyond me - in truth, they’d roast by their own body heat. The vacuum of space is an INSULATOR. You know those “solar panels” on the International Space Station? Most of them are actually RADIATORS, to dissipate heat into space, otherwise the astronauts would be living (and dying) in an oven.


3 posted on 04/15/2016 5:34:39 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: MtnClimber

One of the reasons that Apollo 13 safely returned was due to a Texhnical Note written in 1959 by Barbara J. Short entitled. Point Return Landings From the Moon to the Eartth

This gave the equations needed for trajectory and burn rates


4 posted on 04/15/2016 5:35:05 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: MtnClimber

Nowadays, NASA would depend less upon choosing the right route, but merely upon the will of Allah.


5 posted on 04/15/2016 5:35:47 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Harvey Dent -- can he be trusted?)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Allah was the ancient god of the moon so that may be so with the current occupier of the white hut.


6 posted on 04/15/2016 5:42:32 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: Talisker

Except “in truth”, NASA says the temperature dropped to 38 degrees F and condensation started forming everywhere. The movie was correct.


7 posted on 04/15/2016 5:42:49 PM PDT by DesertRhino ("I want those feeble minded asses overthrown,,,)
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To: MtnClimber

A basic Failure Modes and Effects Analysis would have identified the lunar orbital option as the only acceptable one, as history has verified.


8 posted on 04/15/2016 5:42:52 PM PDT by bigbob
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To: Talisker

Space is 2.7K, in other words, it is extremely cold.


9 posted on 04/15/2016 5:43:18 PM PDT by D Rider
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To: Talisker

With no fuel cells, the CM was shut down to conserve electricity. With no electronics running, the temp fell to 38DegF in the LM.

There’s a link in another post with link to a summary report of the incident.


10 posted on 04/15/2016 5:48:05 PM PDT by GRRRRR (He'll NEVER be my President, FUBO! Treason is the Reason! Impeach the Kenyan)
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To: Nifster
One of the reasons that Apollo 13 safely returned was due to a Texhnical Note written in 1959 by Barbara J. Short entitled. Point Return Landings From the Moon to the Eartth

I will raise my glass to John Houbolt.

Cheers.

11 posted on 04/15/2016 5:48:48 PM PDT by plymaniac
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To: D Rider

The pressure in space is almost zero PSI so the boiling point of water is far below body temperature. If they don’t have vacuum seal to maintain pressure, their bodies would explode from the violent boiling of their water content. Another risk most people are not aware of.


12 posted on 04/15/2016 5:50:16 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Fortunately, lunar-orbit rendezvous required two separate vehicles with independent power, life-support, and computer systems. That redundancy saved 13 when one of the vehicles was damaged.

What the article didn’t expand on was WHY it happened - the first few Apollo Service Modules all had (IIRC) 24-volt electrical systems. But somewhere mid-program NASA changed the spec to 36V, and that change - for whatever reason - wasn’t passed on to the people who designed the heater systems for the frozen gas tanks. So when the new, higher voltage was applied to warm the liquid oxygen, it heated up a lot more than was calculated, and the predictable result occurred - an explosion.


13 posted on 04/15/2016 5:51:05 PM PDT by canuck_conservative
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To: canuck_conservative

Yes, and the heaters were required to keep the oxygen from freezing solid.


14 posted on 04/15/2016 5:54:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: GRRRRR
With no fuel cells, the CM was shut down to conserve electricity. With no electronics running, the temp fell to 38DegF in the LM. There’s a link in another post with link to a summary report of the incident.

Well the astronauts continued to run at 98.6 degrees F. So unless someone can explain where all their body heat went for three days, "Houston, we have a problem." Maybe NASA's Muslim outreach program wrote the summary report.

15 posted on 04/15/2016 5:55:21 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: D Rider
Space is 2.7K, in other words, it is extremely cold.

Right, and it's a vacuum. So where did the astronaut's body heat go with such an extreme difference in temperatures, when radiation is the only method that would work?

16 posted on 04/15/2016 5:59:00 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: MtnClimber

If they hadn’t named it Apollo 13 and skipped the number like they were advised, they wouldn’t have had all those problems.


17 posted on 04/15/2016 5:59:48 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: Talisker

I have read and watched numerous videos (documentaries) about this... Pretty sure that every astronaut involved was freezing his ass off.


18 posted on 04/15/2016 6:00:50 PM PDT by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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To: MtnClimber

Back in the days when America had balls.

Now, we have snowflakes and crybullies.


19 posted on 04/15/2016 6:02:37 PM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: Talisker

I have read and watched numerous videos (documentaries) about this... Pretty sure that every astronaut involved was freezing his ass off.


20 posted on 04/15/2016 6:04:33 PM PDT by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Western Civilization- whisper the words, and it will disappear. So let us talk now about rebirth.)
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