NASA have contracted for new spacesuits to be used on Orion missions. They look like hard shell suits, mainly, and the innovation here seems to be in a modular approach which will allow a capsule/EVA suit to be modified for Moonwalking.
Have a look at NASA’s page and New Scientist’s page. See what you think.
I’ve just found this blog and this one, written by a lady who seems to have worked on the F1 rocket engine in the 60’s. I’d love to learn more from her about her experiences and the technology.
And of course I’d love to hear from other Apollo engineers. What a time it must have been. Or was it just a job?
Time I posted some video of my favourite astronaut experiment. This is such a simple demonstration, and Dave Scott carries it off well. He actually carried two feathers with him as he wasn’t sure how the static building up as he moved around would allow him to drop the first one. He didn’t need it, of course, but no-one knows what happened to the second feather. Do they?
I thought it would be interesting to publish a list of some of the Apollo books and stuff I’ve collected over the years. I can recommend just about anything on this list, but top 5? Here’s a first stab, but I might change my mind:
I’ll have a look at DVDs in the same way sometime perhaps, but what’s missing from my collection that is a must read?
Title |
Author |
| A Man on the Moon | Andrew Chaikin |
| Apollo | Al Bean |
| Apollo: the Race to the Moon |
Charles Murray & Catherine Bly Cox |
| Apollo 11:1 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo 11:2 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo 12 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo 13 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo 15:1 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo 16:1 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo 17:1 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Apollo Orbiting Moon, Heads Back Today | (newspaper original edition) |
| Astronomy Now: Man on the Moon 30th Anniversary | (magazine) |
| Carrying the Fire | Michael Collins |
| Facsimile: Guardian 21/07/69 | Front Page |
| First Man | James R Hansen |
| Friendship 7 | Ed. Robert Godwin |
| Full Moon | Michael Light |
| History of the 20th Century: Man in Space: A New age of discovery | (magazine) |
| Life: To the Moon and back | (magazine) |
| Lost Moon: the perilous voyage of Apollo 13 | Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger |
| Moon Map | Philip’s |
| Moondust | Andrew Smith |
| NASA LM Chart Series: 1: 1 000 000 | NASA |
| On Mars | Patrick Moore |
| On the Moon | Patrick Moore |
| Project Apollo | Charles Coombs |
| Project Constellation | Tim McElyea |
| Rocketman | Nancy Conrad & Howard A Klausner |
| Saturn V News Reference | NASA (printed from website) |
| Spaceflight Jan 1968 |
British Interplanetary Society magazine |
| The Last Man on the Moon | Eugene Cernan & Don Davis |
| The Man Who Ran the Moon | Piers Bizony |
| Virtual Apollo | Scott P Sullivan |
| Virtual LM | Scott P Sullivan |
It seems to me that the Altair and Orion spacecraft, in their journey from Earth to Moon will need the same thermal control as the Apollo spacecraft did. This was achieved by a ‘barbeque roll’ of the spacecraft, perpendicular to the direction of the Sun meaning that no part of the structure got too hot or too cold.
Now, Altair/Orion (let’s just call it Orion shall we?) will have the same problem, and I presume a similar solution. However, with the winglike solar panels on Orion will it be simple? I suppose it might be possible to drive the panels so that they were always facing the Sun, but with current design concepts it looks awkward, with some kind of universal joint being necessary.
Perhaps the heat management of Orion will be different so that the passive thermal roll is unnecessary, or the solar panel orientation is easier to control than I suppose (and I’m no engineer). I do know that a single axis rotation such as that achieved by the Apollo crews was very difficult to manage, but guess it would be simpler with modern avionics.
Armstrong and Aldrin spent about 2 and a half hours walking on the lunar surface. 
This map, showcased on favourite blog Strange Maps, demonstrates the limited ambition of the first moonwalk. Kennedy’s imperative was the priority. Anything else was a bonus, and Armstrong’s furthest distance from the LM was barely half a football pitch.
I’ve just noticed something odd about the configuration of the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) and Orion, with the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM - which I’m now reading is to be called Altair).
After Earth Orbital Rendezvous the stack will then depart for the Moon, with the EDS (effectively the Ares V 3rd stage) providing the thrust. It’s just that the thrust is the wrong way. The astronauts will be accelerating in the opposite direction to that in which they left Earth. They will accelerate in the -x direction, rather than +x. The cone of the CEV will be accelerating blunt end first rather than sharp end first as they will for the other main acceleration phases of any mission, including transEarth injection (TEI) and reentry/landing.
I can imagine astronauts basically suspended in their harnesses as the up they were familiar with on take off becomes down. I can’t imagine it is easy to design couches that are reversible in this way. 
This just doesn’t seem right. The acceleration of the EDS stack must be significant, and will be several minutes in length if it is anything like Apollo/Saturn. You’ll recall that the Apollo/Saturn TLI stack, with the SIVB pushing it, was in the same +x axis as at launch, TEI and reentry. How will astronauts cope?
So, have I just ruined a whole vehicle development programme, or am I missing something, or is the problem just not as serious as I think it must be?
I’ve been reading a bit about the Constellation Program, the suite of boosters and spacecraft NASA are currently developing to replace the shuttle, return to the Moon and go on to Mars. I’ve been keeping an eye on developments, but haven’t even trawled through all Wikipedia has to offer. It’s nice to see books appear, just like they did for Apollo, which summarise the craft being developed. I shall be interested to see how quaint they, like the Apollo material, look when we see the real thing.
I wonder if Constellation/Orion will capture the imagination like Saturn/Apollo? Is it just that Apollo is no more that it seems more romantic? Is it a love of something lost, a kind of nostalgia? Or is it that we know, in our world of mp3 players, mobile phones, pocket calculators forgoodnesssake that it all seems so amazingly primitive.
Remember the first ‘mobile’ phones? The ones you kept in the car. The ones that, if you wanted to walk with it you had to unplug from the car and carry a briefcase with the battery? Sophisticated weren’t they? That was what, 15 years or so after Gene Cernan stepped off the Moon! But the laws of physics, as NASA engineers are fond of saying (or was it Scotty?) haven’t changed. Electronics can help streamline and automate systems, but massive boosters are still needed (the Ares V, for example, is likely to be nearly as tall and more powerful than Saturn V).
I think the main challenges of any travel outside low Earth orbit are likely to be physiological and psychological. We’re planning to go back to the Moon to spend weeks and months at a time there. A Mars mission is going to take years. Crew will be isolated (in communication time as well as in space) from all but a very few others. The toll of weightlessness or 1/6 gravity is known to be significant, and medical emergencies are inevitable but unthinkable. Space will be limited (ironically, I suppose).
So, will crew members on a 6 month cruise to Mars, and during their 2 year stay there be given holiday? How would that work? Or will they be kept busy every day for 3 years? How will they get away from it all?
The astronauts of the future really will have to have the Right Stuff.
We went to see this tonight, at last, and it was as good as expected. It is a rare thing to hear the words, and see the faces of the men who journeyed out of the gravity well of the Earth. Much of the footage is rare and the interviews speak for themselves. There is a little text to help fill in the story. We are taken from Kennedy’s challenge, through Apollo 1, Apollo 8 and 11 to the experiences of the men who flew.
I most enjoyed seeing the aged, rheumy eyes of the astronauts as they relived and analysed their feelings. They showed wonder, excitement, humour, and constant amazement that they should be so privileged to have been in the right place, at the right time, with the right stuff. Alan Bean thought he had the right stuff, whatever that is, only because he was selected!
I always love to hear what Michael Collins has to say. His autobiography, Carrying the Fire is widely regarded as the best Apollo biography, and I agree. He has an intelligent but slightly removed view from within the Apollo 11 crew.
I like to hear Buzz Aldrin. He is so earnest, as Dr Rendezvous or as an advocate of continuing human spaceflight. Although I heard little new from him it was right to hear him in the context of the others. His humility is improving with age.
John Young is the only astronaut to fly in 3 programmes - Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle. Vastly experienced, I think he was the last Apollo veteran to retire from NASA. Laid back and laconic. Always a pleasure.
Dave Scott had too small a role in my view. His mission, Apollo 15, was the first to really get to grips with science.
I don’t recall anything specific that Ed Mitchell said, which is a shame, as Apollo 14 is perhaps the most overlooked mission.
Charlie Duke was fun to hear, especially as he was the Apollo 11 CapCom. I was disappointed film wasn’t included of him saying “…you’ve got a bunch of guys about to turn blue…” He’s an engaging man.
Harrison Schmitt said a few things, but was greatly overshadowed by his crewmate Gene Cernan…
…who, in my mind held, with Collins, the core of the film. I sense a deep regret in him that he was the last to leave, and no-one has followed. As he says, no-one can take away the footprints he left on the Moon. He is captivated by the beauty of the Earth and is rightly proud of the Apollo program’s role in kick-starting global environmental awareness. What would we do without the Apollo photos of the Earth? The title of the film comes from something Gene Cernan says, in wonder, about passing into darkness from days of constant sunlight on the journey to the Moon.
Alan Bean clearly enjoyed his ride. I have such a strong impression of him through the Apollo 12 episode of ‘From the Earth to the Moon‘, which is seen through his eyes. Nothing he says on the film really changes what I learned from that.
Finally, Jim Lovell, who has such a gentle way, was again lovely to hear from. Apollo 13 has certainly defined his fame, and he deals with it very well, but his journey on Apollo 8 with Borman and Anders deserves equal memory. It was every bit as brave (the first manned flight of Saturn V, and they went right out of Earth orbit!) and made it clear that Apollo was back on track after Apollo 1 two years earlier.
We all missed hearing from Armstrong, of course. I’m sorry that he chose not to take part, but he probably feels he’s said all he wants to. I have no problem with that. What a burden to carry, as Aldrin explained in the film. I also missed hearing from Pete Conrad. He’s an astronaut famed for his humour and the Apollo 12 mission, with Bean and Dick Gordon, made a huge contrast with the quiet 11 crew. Jim Irwin and Al Shepard also were missing. You’d have to have made this film in 1990 to have had all 12 moonwalkers. Would it have been possible then?
I’ll be buying the DVD. Especially as the cinema forgot to play the sound for the first minute or so and then let the sound and picture get out of synch. Grrr.
I went and had a look at Holmes on Tuesday night, the only clear night this week it would seem. I trained both binos and telescope on this recently brightened comet. It wasn’t really worth the hassle of getting the scope out, as the view wasn’t much better. It is visible to the naked eye, but not, where I am (in a small city) as a comet. I don’t think it is as bright as Hyakutake (in 1999?), but I haven’t bothered looking that up. I saw an image similar to those on the Wikipedia page. It was, however, worth turning the scope to the ever-beautiful Moon.
