Instead of "Los Bird Proves Apollo Inauthenticity," the name of the thread should be changed to "Stump JayUtah."
At ApolloHoax they give out a virtual "I Corrected JayUtah" T-shirt when someone catches a mistake I've made. Apparently it's a badge of honor. I do know a lot, but I've never achieved omniscience. They give away 3-4 of those a year. I probably rank only a 7 or 8 on the Henry Spencer scale.
I've been deposed many times as an engineer by lawyers. Should I respond in "deposition mode" or in "instructional mode?"
Was there a policy regarding smoking for the Apollo astronauts in their personal free-time (on earth)?
I don't know of any such policy for Apollo, but I know that there was no such policy for Mercury or Gemini. I know that many of the astronauts, being former military men, smoked. I don't believe that NASA had a problem with smoking in general at the time.
Did any astronaut struggle with withdrawal during his mission?
I've never heard any astronaut admit nicotine withdrawal, either in person or in a memoir, during their missions. I recall reading that one Mercury astronaut -- I don't remember which -- prided himself on supposedly using less oxygen because he didn't smoke.
Were the meals numbered for consumption on the Apollo missions (as they were for the Space Shuttle) or could the astronauts choose whichever meal they wanted?
Each astronaut chose his own menu and was supposed to eat the proper meals according to schedule. This was to ensure that the crews received adequate nutrition throughout the mission. Contrary to popular belief, the Apollo missions did not carry Tang.
What were the first words spoken on the moon?
"Shutdown," spoken by Armstrong confirming that he had stopped the DPS.
For many years we believed it might have been Aldrin's, "Engine stop" or perhaps his "ACA out of detent." The latter definitely occurred after touchdown, but the former could have occurred prior to touchdown. Careful analysis of the 16mm film reveals that the engine was running at touchdown, and we believe Aldrin's "Contact light" was spoken with the LM still "airborne."
But the clincher came when we finally obtained the CVR recordings from the LM and determined that Armstrong had said "Shutdown" after actually shutting off the engine. For many years the only widely-available audio recording of the landing was the Net-1 (air-to-ground) circuit. Armstrong's radio keying was not on its voice-activated setting and therefore did not key the downlink every time he spoke; he had to manually key his mic in order to talk to Mission Control. Hence not everything he said was recorded on the ground. We have also subsequently found the MOCR flight controller loop recording from the landing, which I helped to synchronize with the Net-1 recording several years ago.
What was the name of the individual who was sequestered with the Apollo 11 astronauts after landing?
Dr. William Carpentier, MD.
Were the spacesuits used on the moon EVA's cleaned after landing, or are they still covered in moon dust in the museums today?
Both. The suits were vacuumed before the astronauts transferred back to the CM in order to prevent contamination of and damage to CM systems, but the Beta cloth used in Apollo era suits differs from modern Beta cloth used in modern ILC suits in that among other things it is an open weave and is more porous. It was impossible to remove all the Moon dust from the suits, so the suits that are on display now bear visible traces of Moon dust.
The astronauts were permitted to keep some souvenirs of their missions, and those who elected to keep their cuff checklists note with pride that they are still smudged with Moon dust.
Are we certain of the status of the flag erected by the Apollo 11 astronauts and what is that status?
I assume by "status" you mean whether it is still standing. It is not. The APS exhaust blew it over, although there were some reports that the pre-ascent RCS hot-fire test was the culprit. Ironically the Apollo 11 flag may be the best preserved since it may have been covered by dust. The other flags that were left exposed to the elements have almost certainly been reduced to fragments of pastel nylon at the base of the flagpole due to the destructive effects of unfiltered ultraviolet light on polymers.
Because of the relative impenetrability of the regolith, the flagpole for subsequent missions was redesigned to come in two pieces, the lower half of which was pointed and could be driven by an geology hammer swung within the astronaut's comfortable range of motion. Then the upper half was screwed into it.
The film footage of the LM ascent taken from the cockpit, showing the wildly flapping flag, is from Apollo 14. Aldrin actually forgot to start the 16mm camera until several seconds into the Apollo 11 lunar liftoff.
Exactly what was faulty part (down to the serial number) that caused the explosion aboard Apollo 13.
That's a difficult question for an engineer to answer for a lawyer because typically a vast amount of liability could be assigned based on the answer, and a lawyer's notion of liability is not the same as an engineer's notion of cause. The Report of the Apollo 13 Review Board is the evidence here; I would only be in a position of interpreting it as an expert witness.
The explosion occurred in SM oxygen tank No. 2, serial number 10024XTA0008, manufactured as a single assembly by Beech Aircraft as a supplier to the prime contractor North American Aviation (now Rockwell). The tank is itself composed of a number of parts, some of which contributed to the failure and some of which did not.
A thermostatic switch (Spencer Thermostat Division, Metals and Controls Inc., no part or serial number available) protecting the heating circult failed "stuck-closed" as the result of improper improvised purge procedures employed on the launch pad.
As a result of the switch failure, the Teflon electrical insulation on the wiring of the circulation fan (Globe Industries, no part or serial number available) baked off when the heater (Beech, no separate serial number) did not shut off at its designated upper temperature limit. The loss of electrical insulation compromised electrical circuit integrity.
The proximal cause of the explosion was an unintended electrical arc occurring between the fan power and chassis ground conductors (nickel metal), which are installed as a twisted pair of separately insulated conductors. The arc provided suitable thermal energy to vaporize a portion of the cryogenic oxygen contents. The vaporization of liquid oxygen raised the tank pressure and caused the subsequent overpressure failure of the Inconel tank vessel (Cameron Iron Works, no part or serial number available; assembly by Electrodata Corp.). The pressure vessel was not defective and functioned normally until the expanding contents exceeded its design pressure limit and margin.
Wiring does not generally have a serial number but rather only a designation of stock type. It only has a serial number if it is a wiring harness -- an assembly. The wiring in this case was not a harness, but was simply the wiring leads provided by the fan manufacturer and integrated into the fan motor. The leads were wired to an internal terminal block (unknown manufacturer). The fan functioned normally and did not contribute to the accident.
On Friendship 7, what does the 7 stand for?
It stands for the collective team of Mercury flight crews, the seven Mercury astronauts.
For a time, NASA afforded the privilege of naming spacecraft to the crews that flew them. Following the questionable titles of
Gumdrop and
Spider for the Apollo CM and LM respectively, NASA reasserted its right to approve spacecraft names.
Alan Shepard began the practice of including a "7" in all the Mercury spacecraft names, and this tradition continued for the remainder of the program. Since there was some anxiety over the historical significance of the first man to be chosen to fly, the fledgling astronaut corps vowed to work and function publicly as a team and to keep any rivalry well hidden from the public. Thus the numeral "7" has deep significance in Mercury culture.
Did Grissom blow the hatch?
No. The NASA investigation concluded that Grissom did not activate the explosive hatch fasteners and was cleared of any fault in his Mercury 2 mission. The most likely cause of the premature hatch jettison was determined to be a parachute shroud fouling the external hatch control.
The plug-type door that proved to be so difficult to open during and following the Apollo 1 launch pad fire accident was a direct design consequence of the failure of Grissom's Mercury hatch. In a deep irony, the safety features that Grissom (who was himself a highly skilled engineer) fought to obtain for Apollo ultimately made it impossible for him to be rescued in the accident that took his life.
The book and subsequent film
The Right Stuff inaccurately portrays Grissom as a "squirming hatch-blower." While this may have been the opinion of John Glenn, who was novelist Tom Wofle's primary source, it does not reflect either the facts of the incident nor NASA's continued faith in Grissom. Gus Grissom was slated to fly the shakedown flights of all NASA's spacecraft -- a coveted flight assignment -- and according to Deke Slayton may have been chosen as the first man on the Moon.
What were the designed minimum and maximum reentry angles for the Apollo missions and how much confidence was there in a successful reentry that varied by 1 and 2 degrees more or less?
Minimum 5.7 degrees.
Maximum 7.3 degrees.
Optimal 6.48 degrees.
Entry at angles outside the minimum and maximum ranges given above is not considered survivable.
The expected failure mode for a steep descent is destruction of the CM airframe due to aerodynamic stress aggravated by structural weakening due to thermal stress. The crew may or may not survive the imposed G forces prior to spacecraft destruction.
The expected failure mode for a shallow design is deceleration into a long-period, highly eccentric orbit. Since the CM has rotational thrusters only, this orbit cannot be corrected and the resulting perigee will cause an atmospheric entry angle far exceeding the CM structural limits. Onboard consumables are not expected to last for the period of this orbit anyway, so the crew will have expired from hypoxia prior to the second entry.
What was the name of the highest-level Grummond official on-site at Houston during Apollo 14?
I assume you mean Grumman, now part of Northrup Grumman Aerospace.
Lunar Module lead engineer Tom Kelly supervised the Apollo 14 mission for Grumman from Mission Control in Houston. While he may not necessarily have been the highest-ranking official present in the Grumman corporate hierarchy, he would have been the key decision maker in problems arising in the LM.
Kelly participated actively in diagnosing the docking difficulty. (I once worked for one of the engineers who worked the same problem from the NAA side.) He also supervised the diagnosis and correction of the wayward Abort signal in the LM computer.
What was his favorite color?
Carnelian and white.
