View Single Post
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 28-November-2002, 01:40 PM
Bad_Moon_Rising Bad_Moon_Rising is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 15
Default

Quote:
On 2002-11-28 08:04, Glom wrote:
Moreover, why did every mission apart from Apollo 13 go perfectly?

They didn't. Apollo 11 had a computer overload. Apollo 12 got struck by lightening on launch. Apollo 14 nearly had to abort the mission and the first attempts at TD&E failed.
You are quite right. Newsgroup poster "Doug" has provided the most detailed list, I have seen on the above.

See it HERE

For instance, on Apollo 11 alone, he lists:

"Apollo 11:
- The EMS monitor failed to display valid measurements during TD&E.
- The LM steerable S-band antenna drive electronics were loaded with
partially invalid propogation characteristics (a "signal strength map" that
told the antenna when it was looking at pieces of the LM and when it was
clear of any obstructions), resulting in frequent side-lobe lock-ons and
intermittent comm, which was serious during the early phases of PDI.
- A lack of understanding of how the computer would react to simply
withholding rendezvous radar data during descent resulted in overloading of
the LM computer and frequent program alarms which nearly caused the landing
to be aborted.
- Unanticipated fuel slosh in the descent stage tanks made the LM difficult
to control during final descent.
- The LM's mission timer broke after the landing and never worked
thereafter.
- A lack of awareness of PLSS positioning within the LM cabin resulted in
the ascent engine arming circuit breaker being broken off and alternate
procedures (felt-tip pen and/or circuitry workarounds) had to be used to arm
the ascent engine.
- During rendezvous and docking after the lunar surface activities, the
LM's platform went into gimbal lock at the pre-planned docking attitude.
When the crew switched to the AGS to control spacecraft movement, the att
hold function was not controlled in the same way by the pre-planned switch
positions, so when the CSM docked and began the probe retract cycle, the AGS
began driving the LM into a significant yaw excursion. More through luck
than skill, the co-operative maneuvering done simultaneously by Collins in
the CSM and Armstrong in the LM managed to bring the two vehicles back into
the proper alignment just as the probe fully retracted, resulting in a
successful docking. Had the retract brought the vehicles together as much
as a second before or after when it did, the misalignment may have been
severe enough not only to prevent a hard dock, but to damage the LM's
docking ring. Had that happened, there would have to have been an EV
transfer, and according to the rules of an EV transfer, the rock boxes would
have stayed behind in the LM."


*****************



Reply With Quote