Loose items in Apollo CM during reentry?

Question

Would there have been any danger to the astronauts or the equipment if a soft item, like a crumpled up napkin or tissue, was loose during the Apollo CM reentry, or did everything have to be secured?

Answer 1

Following suggestions in the comments, below is an attempt of the answer, although it is based rather on a common sense / engineering guesswork.

There was an incident during Apollo 12 splashdown, but with a hard item:

During splashdown, a 16 mm filmcamera dislodged from storage and struck Bean in the forehead, rendering him briefly unconscious. He suffered a mild concussion and needed six stitches.

This is the real life proof that things can get "flying" and impacting if unsecured during reentry/splashdown.

• If the item in question is soft and light (akin to suggested napkin) there might be a chance of potentially clogging suction vent for air recirculation;
• Although even less likely, if the item is soft but heavy (whatever the item might be: here are few examples from one of the real Apollo stowage lists: a food/hygiene item or liquid cooling garment 4.6 lb, etc.) when unsecured and subjected to moderate-to-high g-forces, can potentially actuate an odd switch or circuit breaker by impacting on it.

I wouldn't expect severe consequences of a soft item impacting directly on human. Soft and light objects would obviously do no harm at all, and soft but heavy objects would give a feeling similar to a moderate hit by a pillow or very light hit by a soccer ball, i.e. near zero likelihood of life threatening.