Could the Apollo astronauts have done an eva, from the Command Module, during the flight to or from the Moon?
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3$\begingroup$ Possible duplicate of Zero gravity spacewalk above low Earth orbit? $\endgroup$– NKCampbellApr 17, 2019 at 14:18
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$\begingroup$ @NKCampbell Since the two answers here are more informative, and the top one has double the votes than the answer there, you should really close that question as duplicate of this one. It doesn't matter which was asked first. $\endgroup$– uhohApr 18, 2019 at 0:08
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2 Answers
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They did. Apollo 15, 16, and 17 has an EVA to recover film from cameras in the Scientific Instrument Module Bay (SIMBay) on the Service Module to bring back inside.
This table, linked, shows all the Apollo EVA's.
Worden (Apollo 15), Mattingly (Apollo 16), and Evans on Apollo 17 spent about 3 hours total on EVA.
Some good articles on these deep space EVA's are here: History of Deep Space EVA
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$\begingroup$ Scientific INstrument Bay (SIMBay ? Wouldn't that be SINBay? $\endgroup$ Apr 16, 2019 at 18:19
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$\begingroup$ I was stealing that info from the article. 4 words is ok to reuse, as it is a proper name. dunno why). $\endgroup$– geoffcApr 16, 2019 at 18:24
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12$\begingroup$ Because it's Scientific Instrument Module Bay. $\endgroup$– JoshuaApr 16, 2019 at 18:33
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2$\begingroup$ I assume there was no air lock on the CM, so did these EVAs require emptying the CM of air? $\endgroup$ Apr 17, 2019 at 10:15
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2$\begingroup$ @TorKlingberg - So it would seem. From the History of Deep Space EVA link above: "After depressurizing the cabin and performing suit integrity checks, the CM crew hatch..." $\endgroup$ Apr 17, 2019 at 10:30
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In addition to the scheduled EVAs on the later Apollo missions, if the lunar module was unable to securely dock with the command module after returning from the moon, the commander and lunar module pilot could have EVA'd back to the CM. This procedure was never required during the program. (The Soviets' tiny 1-seat lunar lander, the LK, had no docking hatch, and EVA was the normal way to get between it and the LOK mothership!)
answered Apr 16, 2019 at 21:11
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1$\begingroup$ Exactly. I seem to recall we've answered this question before. In fact, it was Deke Slayton himself who ordered that it be made possible, and thus the wrench to open the CM hatch was added to the LM repair kit. $\endgroup$ Apr 16, 2019 at 21:41
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5$\begingroup$ Given that it was possible to open the hatch from the inside for the EVAs that actually happened, seems like you'd only need a wrench if the guy in the CSM was incapacitated. quora.com/… points out that if you did this, your "incapacitated" and thus presumably un-suited CSM pilot would become a dead CSM pilot. Still, the other two potentially make it home. $\endgroup$ Apr 16, 2019 at 23:16