Timeline for Why did Armstrong pilot the LM, when Aldrin was tasked as Lunar Module Pilot?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 22, 2022 at 11:45 | comment | added | jumpjack | who says that computer display got frozen? It did not; display went back from displaying V16N68 to displaying previous values (V6N63), then Aldrin typed V5N9E and computer displayed the program alarm number 1202 in register R1. | |
| Oct 14, 2017 at 16:36 | comment | added | Organic Marble | The shuttle commander, not pilot, flew every shuttle landing. The pilot was sometimes allowed to fly for a few moments during the approach. | |
| Apr 23, 2014 at 6:43 | vote | accept | dotancohen | ||
| Apr 23, 2014 at 6:40 | comment | added | dotancohen | Thanks. After quite a bit of reading I have found some confirmation of David's assessment that safety-critical 'firsts' are done by the commander. Therefore, despite the titles, a manual landing was Armstrong's responsibility. It can be seen here that Young, not Crippen, landed STS-1, for example. | |
| Apr 22, 2014 at 13:46 | comment | added | TildalWave | @dotancohen Our discussion with David is currently literally the latest chat in The Pod Bay, our main chat room, I'm not sure why you had problems finding it. I've bookmarked it for you, but the easiest would be simply stopping by there. You later question has I believe an answer in rank terminology. I.e. why the commander, that was also a pilot, wasn't called "commander pilot". | |
| Apr 22, 2014 at 9:24 | comment | added | dotancohen | I cannot find the relevant chat log. Consider David's quote "My understanding is that landing was Armstrong's job from the start. It would have been Armstrong rather than Aldrin who landed the Eagle even if nothing had gone wrong.". If that is the case, then why was Aldrin designated as LM Pilot? | |
| Apr 21, 2014 at 22:36 | history | edited | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 272 characters in body
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| Apr 21, 2014 at 20:04 | comment | added | TildalWave | Either case, there's no need to hurry with accepts or alike. We'll get to the bottom of it. That's what peer review is all about. ;) Also, here's a nice infographic on Apollo 11 landing that I found during my search for relevant citations. | |
| Apr 21, 2014 at 20:02 | comment | added | TildalWave | @dotancohen We've discussed this a bit with David in our Space Exploration Chat. I've just added a few clarifications in my answer, hopefully that improves it. The point is that Aldrin was never meant to pilot LM in manual mode, and he was at the right side of the LM from the start, while Armstrong was at manual control joysticks and all at his station to the left. If all went well, then Aldrin would have control of the flight computer. As it didn't, the commander had to manually pilot LM while Aldrin assisted him. I agree with David, anomalous readings do call for commander to take over control of the ship. | |
| Apr 21, 2014 at 19:57 | history | edited | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
A few more clarifications that Aldrin was never meant to pilot LM manually
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| Apr 21, 2014 at 19:56 | comment | added | dotancohen | Thank you TildalWave. I'll wait a bit for David or someone else to add a bit more info before I choose an answer. | |
| Apr 21, 2014 at 17:42 | comment | added | David Hammen | My understanding is that landing was Armstrong's job from the start. It would have been Armstrong rather than Aldrin who landed the Eagle even if nothing had gone wrong. The same has been true on other firsts. It's the commander who does it the first time (e.g., first docking in the Gemini program, first landing in the Shuttle program). It becomes the pilot's job only after it gets mundane. | |
| Apr 21, 2014 at 16:26 | history | edited | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 62 characters in body
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| Apr 21, 2014 at 16:21 | history | answered | TildalWave | CC BY-SA 3.0 |