Author
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Topic: ASMU propulsion unit use outside of Skylab
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carmelo Member Posts: 1051 From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 05-07-2014 08:13 PM
Could the Automatically Stabilized Maneuvering Unit, or ASMU (an early MMU) be used from the astronauts outside of the Skylab in a EVA?Or the structure of Apollo telescope and the umbilical cord (but I remember that the Gemini AMU could be used in an umbilical EVA) prevented the use out of the station? |
Dwight Member Posts: 577 From: Germany Registered: Dec 2003
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posted 05-08-2014 07:32 AM
I am fairly certain that the test protocols would have prohibited the use of it outside the OWS. From a practical standpoint, I don't see why it couldn't have been functional, given that fully EVA-suited tests were made filmed and televised inside the space station, as detailed in Live TV From Orbit.To do so, however, given that it was not flight approved would have been a risk that I don't think NASA would have been willing to take. |
Jim Behling Member Posts: 1488 From: Cape Canaveral, FL Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 05-08-2014 09:06 AM
When the MMU was tested and/or used on the shuttle program, the orbiter always had the capability to go rescue the astronaut. |
Headshot Member Posts: 891 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 05-08-2014 09:47 AM
This is a silly question, but would a fully-suited astronaut wearing an AMU fit through the airlock hatch? That modified Gemini hatch was not very wide. |
carmelo Member Posts: 1051 From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 05-08-2014 01:22 PM
Good point!So if they wanted use the ASMU in EVA, had stored outside the Skylab, in a safe compartment (on the back of the station, like the AMU in Gemini capsule)? |