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Author
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Topic: Apollo program and spacecraft: facts and figures
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 06-13-2013 12:41 AM
  
Some facts and figures from the Apollo Command Module News Reference. More on pages 284 to 291. The tanks that hold the super-cold fuel in the Apollo spacecraft Service Module are so well insulated that ice cubes placed inside the tanks would take eight and one-half years to melt. The Command Module offers 73 cubic feet per man as against the 68 cubic feet per man in a compact car. By comparison, the Mercury spacecraft offered 55 cubic feet for its one traveler and Gemini provided 40 cubic feet per man. The tanks that hold the cryogenic (ultra-cold) liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen on the Apollo spacecraft come close to being the only leak-free vessels ever built. If an automobile tire leaked at the same rate that these tanks do, it would take the tire 32,400,000 years to go flat. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 06-13-2013 01:12 AM
Conversely - coffee used to fill the tanks would supply a hot drink for some ten years. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 06-13-2013 07:55 AM
Interesting - thanks! |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1220
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 06-13-2013 07:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by moorouge:
Conversely - coffee used to fill the tanks would supply a hot drink for some ten years.
And if the coffee was from Starbucks, it would probably cost more than the fuel! |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 06-15-2013 01:54 AM
It is recorded that the Apollo flights generally had about 5000 component failures in the millions that made up the vehicle. Such was the redundancy built in that these had little or no impact on the mission.However, behind this fact is a remarkable feat of engineering reliability. I used to explain it in this fashion. If your car starts first time 9 times out of 10, it is 90% reliable. If both your two cars start on the first turn of the ignition switch nine times out of ten, then your two cars have a combined reliability of 81%. [9x9/10x10]. For three similar cars the reliability becomes 72%, i.e. 9x9x9/10x10x10. The Apollo vehicle with its millions of components had an overall reliability of 99.9%. Now that is truly amazing. |
ea757grrl
Member Posts: 732
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 06-15-2013 05:55 AM
quote:
Originally posted by moorouge:
Conversely - coffee used to fill the tanks would supply a hot drink for some ten years.
Or Mission Control for about two hours. 
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 06-15-2013 06:45 AM
The ratio of propellant to payload in Saturn V is 50 to 1. How does that compare to Mercury and Gemini? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-15-2013 11:28 AM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
How does that compare to Mercury and Gemini?
It isn't a relevant comparison for programs but launch vehicles. In addition, it isn't a relevant number either. Propellant or payload mass fraction are the common numbers and they include vehicle mass. Payload mass fractions are around 2-4%.
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