#-o #-o #-o
I'm browsing through a copy of Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, by Dr. David Reynolds, that I borrowed from the library. I have no idea why this book is so acclaimed; if one were to underline the factual errors, it would look like a bloodbath. But hold on a minute as I narrow my derision...
Page 119, describing the LM:
The LM consisted of a cockpit "head" and a lower landing stage with legs and the main engine. The landing stage would be left on the Moon, serving as a launch pad for the LM's upper half. The detachable cockpit stage held the astronauts and a smaller engine that would boost them back up into orbit for a rendeavous with their crewmate circling in the Command Module...
A diagram on the next page makes reference to a "ship-to-ship VHS radio antenna", a "liftoff engine", "LM garage attachment point", and a "spacewalk handrail". The diagram even divvies the spacecraft into a "cockpit stage" and a "landing stage"!
Okay, I'm all for easing people into the more advanced concepts of Apollo with launching a technobabble barrage. But reading these passages made me feel as if I'd been talked down to, like the reader isn't quite "ready" to assimilate even the most basic design concepts. At another point, the author states that Apollo 1 contained "five times more oxygen then the outside air". This is supposed to be a shocking statement, but all Apollo missions used pure oxygen environments.
Sorry for mouthing off, but it's no wonder the hoax theories are alive and well when grossly inaccurate information is so readily accepted.

ARRRGGHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!



ty Daryl , thats another book for me to steer clear of [-(

QUOTE : "Apollo 1 contained "five times more oxygen then the outside air"

in a way it was was shocking that 100% oxygen and 1 bar pressure were used -




dumb question - why was the apollo one tested at 1 bar pressure - earlier tests / missions [ mercury / gemini ] seem to have been capable of lauch with only 5psi + pure oxygen

YRS - APE

Delving a bit deeper....
-Dr. Reynolds actually managed to fudge JFK's famous Rice University speech, dropping whole paragraphs and putting one out of order.
-Atlas missile is described as "recently developed" in mid-1962; it was actually several years old.
-Constantly describes NASA, the US, or Americans as "us", "we", or "our". The author is obviously unaware of Apollo's huge international following.
-Wally Schirra - "We're just sitting here, bleeding" :roll:
-The X-15 reached altitudes of "40 miles".
-MOL was designed for "satellite interception".
-Gus Grissom - "if we can't communicate across three miles... He actually said "two or three buildings"
-The crew of Apollo 1 was "incinerated".
-The CM had an "armored main hull". Stainless steel and aluminum does not qualify as "armor" in my book.
-There's no such thing as a "fuel cell battery".
-The LCC is said to have "15 television screens"
-"Apollo 8 entered orbit and prepared to travel around the far side". Uhhh... Dr. Reynolds. You seem to have missed that extremely crucial LOI burn.
-"One small step for a man." Thank you, Mr Gorsky!
-Continuous use of innacurate abbreviations - L.M., C.S.M., P.L.S.S, etc.
-The N-1 is described as less powerful than the Saturn V. In actuality, the first stage generated about 1.2 million kilograms more thrust.
-States that the N1 launch pad explosion in July 1969 killed over 100 people. The explosion occured, but no one was killed.

And that's just from half of the book I skimmed through this morning. I guess the Amazon crowd fell for the beautiful pictures and ignored the ill-researched text. Trust me, if you want an Apollo book with loads of pretty pictures, hunt down a used copy of the three-volume hardover edition of Chaikin's A Man on the Moon. You won't regret it.
Did I mention that the book's endorsed by Wally Schirra? #-o

Because they wanted to have a positive pressure inside the spacecraft. Apollo operated at about 5 PSI in space when there was a vacuum outside, but when testing at sea level the outside pressure was already 14.7 PSI. To get a positive pressure they pumped the CM up to something like 16 or 17 PSI (I don't recall the exact number).

I believe all the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo missions were launched with the spacecraft pumped up to positive pressure. After they attained orbit the atmosphere would leak away until the 5 PSI operational pressure was reached. After Apollo 1, the subsequent missions used an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere on the launch pad, but pure oxygen in space after this initial atmosphere leaked away.

Apollo 1 was pumped to a high pressure to make sure it was sealed properly. The partial pressure of oxygen was probably 5 times (or more) than it was in the outside air which is what I'm sure they meant. Combine this with a load of uninsulated wiring and it was kind of inevitable.

The fire wasn't a quick thing though, they were alive for a good few minutes after it started. The problem was, the door of the capsule opened inwards, and so they couldn't open it due to the pressure inside the capsule.