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  Astronaut helmet visors damaged in flight

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Author Topic:   Astronaut helmet visors damaged in flight
Explorer1
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Posts: 180
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019

posted 01-06-2020 12:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Explorer1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I believe it was Bill Anders who said that the face of his Apollo 8 bubble helmet was either scratched or cracked when he was thrown forward and his helmet struck the command module instrument panel when the Saturn V S-II stage ignited.

And I believe that Gus Grissom's visor was cracked on Gemini 3 at some point in the mission.

Do I have these details correct and are there any other Gemini, Apollo or Skylab astronauts who reported having their visors scratched or cracked?

Jim Behling
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Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 01-06-2020 03:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Grissom's was during parachute descent when the capsule went from single to two point suspension.

oly
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Posts: 971
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 01-06-2020 04:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for oly   Click Here to Email oly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From William A. Anders 1997 Oral History Project Interview:
[T]hen the engines cut off, and just as they cut off some retro rockets fire to try to move that big first stage away from the second and third stage but slightly before it separates. So, you go from a plus 6 G to a minus one-tenth, and the fluid in your ears just [goes wild]. … I felt like I was [being] catapulted right through that instrument panel. ... [Instinctively] I put my hand up [in front of my face] and just about the time I got my hand up..., the second stage cut in. ... [W]hack-o, right onto the face plate with the wrist ring which left [a] gash. ... I thought, 'Oh, damn,' ... here I am, the rookie of the flight, and sure enough here's this big rookie mark. [When] we got into orbit and I got out of my seat and we [took] off our suits and each guy handed me their helmet [to stow] and, sure enough, each one of them had a gash in it from the same thing.

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