Posted on 01/27/2014 8:32:09 AM PST by Ready4Freddy
Say what one will about what the designers should have known and done, but I really think the tragedy was born of ignorance, not short-cut taking.
At least as opposed to the seal issues that led to the destruction of the Challenger. Some folks should have gone to prison for that one.
I am not worthy.
The use of high pressure O2 (16 psi IIRC) was to keep dust and moisture out of the capsule during ground operations
During flight cabin pressure would have been bled down to
3.5 psi for mission
NASA’s mission now is to make MUSLIMS feel good about themselves, per orders from Obama......this is NOT a SATIRE!!
Well of course. LBJ pushed the timeline set originially under VP Nixon who oversaw establishment of the space program. LBJ did this to meet the JFK pronouncement of reaching the moon within 10 years. Even today many people still believe that JFK initiated the space program and the goal of a moon landing as well. You’re right, if Nixon had been president he would have been blamed because he began the program. LBJ with his journalist devotees made the story fall off the pages pretty quickly and he was forced to order a slowdown and review of his previously ambitious schedule.
Yes, I remember that as well (about the engineer). I believe he was played by Kevin Pollak.
Damn. Did not know that.
Yes, I think the goal was that if there was any leakage it would be in the outward direction. I always remember those air-to-ground calls during ascent about “cabin pressure dropping”. The first time I heard it I was worried there was a problem but only later learned it was normal procedure.
This is a hard time of year for NASA because of their losses.
Apollo 1, January 27, 1967
Challenger, January 28, 1986
Columbia, February 1, 2003
I don’t remember hearing about the Apollo 1 loss, was watching the Challenger launch live when it happened, and was working on ISS in Houston when we lost Columbia.
February 1 was established as NASA’s Day of Remembrance after Columbia was lost.
The NappyOne
My uncle was friends with those guys. He had his wife and two kids at the launch and saw this tragedy in person. My aunt always said he never got over it.
More than 30 years later I found a book called “Angle of Attack” by Harrison Storms. Storms had kept quite for decades, but now he was dying of cancer and didn't care. Everything was laid out with dates, times, names, pictures, copies of correspondence, and so forth.
Even that many years after the event it was still incredibly difficult to read. Bottom line: none of the stuff in the capsule had squat to do with with happened. Almost everything burns in a 15.5 psi pure oxygen environment. NASA had known the ‘plugs out test’ (the only time the capsule was pressurized to the level) was dangerous as hell, but it saved weight and expense. North American considered NASA to be one of their best customers, and fell on their sword to keep the heat off NASA. The space shuttle contract was their reward. It was entirely a calculated gamble by NASA, and on this occasion they lost.
The launch of Apollo I was scheduled for ~3 weeks later, Feb 21. The mission, the first manned Apollo launch, was to be low Earth orbit of up to 14 days
History has not been kind to Storms; his being the engineer in charge of the CSM program at NAA put him right in the crosshairs.
RIP to three American heroes.
One of the things that behaves differently in a high pressure, high oxygen content environment is electricity. Where two wires might have to be brought within a sixteenth of an inch to create a spark in normal atmosphere, in a high pressure/high oxygen environment a spark might jump several inches. That's the reason that NASA had a rule that this test could not be performed with ANY electrical component removed from the cabin. And if for some reason it absolutely had to be performed with it removed, there was a long detailed process for protecting and inerting a plug.
Unfortunately a box was missing. And it was right under Gus Grissom’s feet. Like all the suits at the time, his was metalized. He can be heard shifting around in his seat, and immediately thereafter the word ‘fire.’ Running that test not in compliance with their own rules cannot be laid anywhere but at NASA’s feet.
My uncle worked for NASA, as an engineer, at the time.
He was tasked to figure out what caused the spark.
He spent a good part of a year basically smack different objects to together in order to see what might have caused this.
I always thought that was so interesting and I will never forget him relating this to me.
According to some, if Gus had lived, he would have been selected as the 1st to set foot on the Moon instead of Armstrong.
Thanks, no name, I will try to find his book.
There was also the military vs civilian factor, Armstrong being a civilian.
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