GordonD wrote:
> "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!