Questions tagged [apollo-program]
NASA's Apollo program was a 17-mission program that focused on landing a human on the lunar surface. The program was the third human spaceflight by NASA, after Mercury and Gemini.
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Did Streptococcus mitis survive 950 days in the lunar environment?
The "Apollo 50th" account on Twitter tweets news and events day-to-day as they happened 50 years ago.
Yesterday, the following information has been tweeted:
The microorganism Streptococcus mitis ...
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Why did Apollo 11 land at the sea of tranquility?
As we all know in 1969 Apollo 11 landing made history but, why did it land specifically at the sea of tranquility also known as Mare Tranquilitatis. Probably they would have chosen this because of ...
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How much silver was left on the Moon by Apollo Lunar Modules?
Both the descent and ascent stages of the Apollo Lunar Module were powered by silver-zinc batteries.
Source: Apollo Lunar Module Electrical Power System Overview
The total weight of these batteries ...
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Heart attacks & suicides in NASA Mission Control of the 60s?
On page 280 of Mike Gray's book Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon (1992), Gene Kranz, legendary NASA flight director in Gemini & Apollo missions, is quoted as saying:
It ...
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How many rising pipes for LOX at the the Saturn V launch tower?
The Saturn V used liquid oxygen for all three stages plus the Apollo Service Module. Were all these LOX tanks filled using the same rising pipe or did they use a seperate pipe for each tank?
Using ...
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Where did the floatation collar and sea anchor attach to the command module?
When the recovery helicopters arrived after an Apollo splashdown, one of the first tasks was for Navy divers to attach a flotation collar and sea anchor to the spacecraft. The flotation collar kept ...
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Were the consoles in mission control computers or terminals for displaying information?
Were the consoles simple display terminals or were they computers? If terminals were they tied into a computer for control purposes? If a change in trajectory was necessary was it performed from the ...
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Did they mount the Apollo Mobile Service Structure (MSS) to the launch pad using nuts and bolts to be prepared for a storm?
The Mobile Service Structure (MSS) was used for every launch preparation of the Saturn V. It was removed some hours before launch. The MSS is the white tower on the left side.
The MSS was moved and ...
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How did they access the LM to mount the flag package while the Apollo stack was already on the launch pad?
NASA decided rather late to take a flag to the Moon on the Apollo 11 mission. In fact, they were so late that the package containing the flag was only attached to the leg of the LM on July 9th, two ...
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How did lunar quarantine methods compare to COVID-19 quarantine recommendations?
The first three flights that landed on the moon (Apollo 11, 12, and 14) required preparations to prevent possible lunar microbes from infecting the Earth. Equipment was disinfected and the astronauts ...
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Was there any effort made to have Apollo 11 land on July 4? [duplicate]
President Kennedy set a goal of landing a manned mission on the moon by the end of the 1960s, as stated in his well-known speech to Congress on 25 May 1961 ("I believe that this nation should commit ...
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Why/When was a crew of three considered in the first place?
I cannot find why and when during apollo program development, the choice for a crew of three astronauts was made. CSM was built for three, LM for two astronauts.
Where does this choice come from in ...
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Why did the Apollo lunar missions not let all astronauts at least set foot on the Moon's surface? [duplicate]
All Apollo lunar missions had a third crew member who remained on board the command module.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing#Crewed_landings
Imagine being the guy who has to risk ...
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What was the point of the laser reflectors which were placed on the Moon with the Apollo landings? [closed]
Until today, I had never once heard anyone ever mention these "reflectors" which apparently were placed on the Moon at the landing site in order to verify from Earth that humans were there.
On https:/...
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What other options to egress the Apollo Lunar Module were considered, given the height of the LM hatch above the ground?
The egress hatch of the LM is almost 3.5 meters above the Lunar surface. The astronauts descended using a ladder, which is actually quite high above the ground (see also this question). Were any other ...
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How fast were Apollo atmosphere composition reverted back to sea-level atmosphere?
Apollo spacecraft used a pure oxygen atmosphere while in space and an atmosphere with 60% oxygen at launch time. This chapter describes how the atmosphere composition varied from 60% to 100% oxygen in ...
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How much of the Apollo gantry, tower, and pad were destroyed on each launch? How much could be reused?
I have often seen various videos showing the huge fireball beneath a Saturn rocket launching.
But I have not seen video or photos of the aftermath.
Was the gantry, ...
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How many times were things crashed into the Moon “for science” (seismic events)?
This answer to Did Apollo 13 produce any scientific results? begins:
In addition to crashing the Saturn V's S-IVB into the moon to collect seismic data from sensors installed by the crews of Apollo ...
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Why were the openings of the LiOH canisters in Apollo different shapes in the first place?
Many of you probably know the famous "square peg in a round hole" situation on Apollo 13. All three astronauts were in the LM and there was a build up of CO2 from the astronauts exhaling. They had to ...
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Were any Apollo-13-specific procedures added to standard training?
The Apollo 13 accident required a number of unusual procedures to be followed, some of which had to be improvised or learned on the spot.
For example:
Jim Lovell found that it was difficult to ...
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First radio contact between an Australian and a spacecraft? First voice communications?
Launched east from Cape Canaveral at about 30 degrees north latitude, the first few orbits have an opportunity to pass over Australia because it's big and roughly antipodal, especially as the Earth ...
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Who developed the mathematics used to correct the trajectory of Apollo 13?
The 1967 NASA technical note D-4246, Midcourse Guidance Procedure with Single Position Fix Obtained From Onboard Optical Measurements describes correcting the trajectory of a spacecraft traveling ...
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Were probes of “lunar microbes” taken from the spacecraft?
While I read that the Apollo spacecraft had to be decontaminated from potential lunar microbes, I wonder whether also probes were taken to investigate later on whether there had been any?
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What's a “delog”?
Listening to the mission control audio loops on Apollo In Real Time in the immediate aftermath of the Apollo 13 explosion, I hear flight director Kranz asking about "delogs":
...
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Was LM1 of Apollo 5 equipped with additional sensors and telemetry for the umanned “fire in the hole” test?
The first unmanned test of the Lunar Module was done in mission Apollo 5 LM 1. The separation of the ascent stage from the descent stage was done during flight. Did they install additional sensors and ...
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Why did Moon missions state their number in radio context?
I'm not sure if this still happens, so the question may be broader, but in the Apollo transcripts the astronauts would begin a call with something like "Houston, 13". I get that they may have been on ...
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What programs did David Scott add to the Apollo computer for Apollo 15?
David Scott was the commander for Apollo 15. He was also a main point of contact between MIT, who developed the Apollo flight computer, and the astronauts who were going to use that computer. ...
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Why was 65 volts used for ground support equipment?
This article claims that Apollo ground support equipment used 65 V for electrical power, and may have been involved with the cause of the Apollo 13 explosion:
The oxygen tanks had originally been ...
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Apollo Mission Insignia patches, were they stitched by hand or numeric control?
An Apollo Mission Insignia Patch made in the late sixties looked like this:
Patches made today and sold by a NASA shop for $5.75 look a bit different:
The new patches were made using a computer ...
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apollo 11 moon landing longitude latitude from PDI to Touchdown
I'm reconstructing the entire apollo 11 mission trajectory.
I'm now at the moon landing. Does someone know specific documents specifying longitudes and latitude at the different interfaces starting ...
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Were crew assignments ever made to avoid grouping astronauts with similar first names?
Thinking primarily of the Apollo missions with this question, but could be expanded in an answer with a more general response, if appropriate...
With several Apollo-era astronauts sharing similar-...
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How many spacesuits were specifically manufactured for John Young?
John W. Young was a legendary astronaut:
The first American in space after the original Mercury Seven, as Gus Grissom's co-pilot in Gemini 3. He got in trouble during this flight for smuggling ...
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Why is there a Saturn V in the background of this Gemini-Titan launch?
In this photo, a Gemini-Titan is lifting off in the foreground, while a Saturn V is visible in the background.
The last Gemini flight was in late 1966, but the first flight of a Saturn V wasn't ...
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Why did the hose connectors on Apollo spacesuits come in pairs?
Apollo lunar spacesuits had four hose connectors for air:
The EV PGA, however, is provided with two sets: two [blue] inlet connectors interconnected by a plenum chamber and two [red] outlet ...
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What spacesuits did the Apollo astronauts wear on Earth in their training for the Moon?
Even on the Moon the Apollo spacesuits were so heavy and bulky that the Apollo astronauts couldn't move quite well in them, except in the Apollo 15-17 missions where they were improved. However on ...
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How was the flammability of Velcro addressed after the Apollo 1 fire?
In a spacecraft review meeting held with Shea on August 19, 1966 (a week before delivery [of Apollo 1]), the crew expressed concern about the amount of flammable material (mainly nylon netting and ...
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Was the Apollo 13 CO2 problem a matter of capacity, or of rate?
During Apollo 13, an explosion in the service module caused the command module to lose electrical power. This required using the environmental control system of the lunar module to remove carbon ...
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Could the Apollo Lunar Module be flown to a landing without the LEM Guidance Computer?
Inspired by answers to Could the lunar module have moved to a different spot? question but not talking about that specific relaunch scenario:
Could the LEM stack (descent configuration) be flown ...
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Could the Apollo astronauts distinguish Earth's continents and oceans from the moon?
This article "Earthshine Reflects Earth's Oceans And Continents From The Dark Side Of The Moon" indicates that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth’s land masses and oceans can be seen ...
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Apollo Command Module heatshield tube - what was it for?
I went to the Science Museum in London last year, where I saw (amongst many other wonderful things!) the Apollo 10 CM, Charlie Brown. Looking at the heat shield, I saw two circular indentations with a ...
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Could the lunar module have moved to a different spot?
Suppose Neil Armstrong had landed with plenty of spare fuel, only to decide it really wasn't a good spot after all. Could he have lifted back off and landed again, perhaps a couple of hundred feet ...
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How did astronauts frame photos without a viewfinder?
On specially built Hasselblad cameras, how did astronauts operate the camera controls with bulky gloves on, and how did they frame photos without a viewfinder?
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Lunar landing module and orbiting space craft personnel transfer [duplicate]
How did the crew of Apollo get from the orbiting capsule into the Lunar lander, as the orbiter rocket engine was between the orbiter and Lunar lander?
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Apollo 4 vs Apollo 8 plume
I was recently browsing photos of early Apollo missions and noticed that the plume of the Apollo 4 during launch is significantly bigger than that of Apollo 8. Wondering why is that?
Apollo 4 (top) ...
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Apollo 11 Moon orbital elements [duplicate]
I'm simulating several pieces of the Apollo 11 mission.
I'm now at the point of performing lunar landing sequence, and I'm looking for data. I found this report, but it only has partial data, while ...
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Could Apollo astronauts see other planets with the CM Scanning Telescope?
The Apollo Command Module had the Scanning Telescope for navigating, "Apollo astronaut located a specific star using a single-power, wide-field telescope."
I'm not concerned whether it could ...
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Loose items in Apollo CM during reentry?
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?
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Saturn V Small Rectangles On S-II Stage
On the Saturn V there was a line of several small black rectangles running vertically on the upper part of the S-II stage. What were they for?
edit
here is a picture from the McMahan Photo ...
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Did the Apollo LM's cockpit altitude displays account for the pointing angle of the radar altimeter?
The Apollo LM had a radar altimeter which was particularly critical in the final stages of landing. It could be set to two different pitch angles, either aimed backwards by 24º to be used during the ...
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was Saturn V engine J-2 throttleable?
Were the J-2 engines of the third stage of Saturn V throttable? I know that the F-1 for first was not, but what about J-2? I could not find any information about it.
Any reference or info for this?
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