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Message from discussion First on the Moon: The Untold Story
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GordonD  
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 More options Aug 7 2012, 5:24 am
Newsgroups: sci.space.history
From: "GordonD" <g.da...@btinternet.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2012 10:24:53 +0100
Local: Tues, Aug 7 2012 5:24 am
Subject: Re: First on the Moon: The Untold Story
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"Ken S. Tucker" <dynam...@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:jvpvtb$hfq$1@dont-email.me...

> GordonD wrote:
>> Just watched the above documentary, which I assumed was from 2 - 3 years
>> ago but the copyright date at the end was 2005. It was a somewhat
>> sensationalised account of the Apollo 11 flight, focusing on the problems
>> encountered during the mission (the program alarms during descent, the
>> delayed landing leading to low fuel levels and the breaking of the ascent
>> engine arm switch) though they also threw in the sighting of the SLA
>> panel. The impression that came across was that it was more by luck than
>> anything else that the flight was a success.

>> However at one point they stated that the LES wouldn't have worked
>> because in the event of an emergency it would take two seconds to go into
>> operation, whereas the Saturn V would be a big fireball in only half a
>> second. The person who said this was David Baker, author of several books
>> on the space programme, who could in no way be described as a kook. Was
>> he right on this occasion, and if so why hasn't more been made of it?

> My thoughts as well.
> I'll hypothesize that the effectiveness of the LES depends on the nature
> of the anomaly. If a small fire begins the LES would be a lifesaver prior
> to a catastrophe, IIRC the Ruskies used the system once successfully.

Yes, Soyuz T-10, in an off-pad abort when the launch vehicle caught fire.
Accounts say it took several seconds for the escape system to be triggered.

The earlier abort on Soyuz 18 didn't involve the LES as it was later in the
launch phase, after it had been jettisoned.

> I think you are right about that part of the documentary as being
> sensational.

The whole thing came across that way. The problem with the ascent engine arm
switch was portrayed as a real horror story, whereas in reality it was
spotted before the moonwalk and the astronauts simply decided that was
something they'd have to fix later. There was certainly no panic - I don't
think *anything* would cause Armstrong to panic!
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

"Slipped the surly bonds of Earth...to touch the face of God."


 
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