posted 12-24-2015 11:55 AM               

After obtaining my engineering degree in 1967, I was fortunate enough to have been offered a position with the company that had the contract for the Apollo Portable Life Support System (PLSS) which included the Emergency Oxygen Supply System called the "Oxygen Purge System" (OPS).

I arrived at Cape Kennedy Thanksgiving Day, 1968. I was so excited that I forgot it was a holiday and spent the entire day at the Visitors Information Center. Seeing the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Apollo 8 rocket on pad 39 and the rest of the space center was beyond the realm of my imagination. It was difficult to believe that I would be a part of a team that would change science fiction to science fact.

As I began my assignment at the Kennedy Space Center, I became very inquisitive and was determined to get involved in every way possible. I read every document and manual related to space suit operations I could get my hands on.

As we got closer to Apollo 11, the mission the whole world was looking forward to, I realized that I was an important part in making the mission a success. I worked six and seven days a week, 16 to 18 hours a day much of it on my own unpaid time looking for and "making" work. I felt guilty getting paid for the one thing I always dreamed of doing.

One of my most vivid memories was charging the Apollo 11 Life Support Systems. Four individuals, one technician, two quality control personnel and myself adding the life sustaining water and oxygen to the hardware that would be used in just a few days to support the first humans to walk on the moon. I felt a lot of pride along with a lot of butterflies.

Alone one night at about 1AM at our KSC office, I found a memo that stated the Apollo 11 astronauts (Armstrong and Aldrin) were coming to KSC to practice their lunar surface activities and that our support would be needed. The following day I contacted the Manned Spacecraft Center in Texas to find out all I could about the support that would be required. I then informed responsible parties at KSC of my desire to handle the support required without it interfering with my other responsibilities.

Subsequently I was assigned the position of Extravehicular Crew Training Engineer at KSC. The Apollo 11 training exercises went so well at KSC that the Apollo training office at the Manned Spacecraft Office in Texas decided to conduct most of the lunar surface training exercises at KSC.

One of the many aspects that made my "adventure" in the crew training area so interesting were the many times that I explained the functional aspects of the Astronaut Life Support System to so many inquisitive people, i.e. workers, reporters, dignitaries, etc. Being so interested in and so enthusiastic about my work, it gave me much pleasure and satisfaction to convey my enthusiasm to others.

I will never forget the first opportunity to wear the Apollo space suit, more specifically Neil Armstrong's suit. The scene took place in our "clean room". The purpose was to check out the Apollo 11 PLSS communications from the Space Suit to the Spacecraft on Pad 39 to The Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas. The date was May 5, 1969. What an incredible experience knowing that I was verifying that the Spacesuit communications from the moon to earth and back was in fact working as designed to transmit the voices of the first men on the moon to the entire world.

Above: Here I am checking Apollo 11 communications.

Subsequently, I had many opportunities to work with and test procedures using Apollo suits. Being intimately familiar with the procedures used by the astronauts inside the Lunar Module (LM), I was delegated to wear the space suits to develop, troubleshoot and verify procedures used by the astronauts. How close to actually being an astronaut can you get!

Above: Here I am on my way to the simulated lunar surface outside the KSC crew training building to test out modifications made to the life support training "backpacks."

Above: Here I am going through EVA prep and post procedures before the astronauts went through the same procedures.

Above: Here I am evaluating Apollo 11 prep and post procedural changes before the Apollo 11 liftoff in the training LM at KSC wearing Armstrong's training suit.

My most memorable experience was the "journey" to the Apollo 11 spacecraft the night before the Apollo 11 launch to deliver the Astronaut Suit Life Support Equipment and "stow" it in the Lunar Module. There we were, four of us riding along the same route the giant crawler carried the 40 story rocket to pad 39. The destination of that monstrous rocket could be seen that night as a beautiful half sphere.

While riding toward the spacecraft, I kept having flashbacks of moon rockets I had seen in "Flash Gordon and Captain Video" TV series of the early 1950s. The closer we got to the base of the Saturn V rocket the faster the "butterflies fluttered"! Then the elevator ride to the Lunar Module level 36 stories high. The ride to our LM destination seemed endless as I watched the diameter of the rocket get smaller and smaller. When we passed the giant American Flag painted on the side of the rocket I felt proud to be an American.

Once inside the protective room that surrounded the Lunar Module, we removed the two Portable Life Support Systems (PLSS) and The Emergency Oxygen Purge Systems (OPS) from their protective containers. We then installed the hardware in their respective stowage locations. I had the distinction of crawling through the LM hatch into the LM to make the final verification of the PLSS controls and switches. I again could not believe where I was and how I got there. It was hard to comprehend that in just a few days these amazing Life Support Systems ("backpacks") would help make one of man's oldest dreams come true.

posted 12-24-2015 04:52 PM               

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Originally posted by space1:
Were you just extremely lucky to be Armstrong's size, or was a close fit not really important for your tests?

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posted 12-25-2015 08:53 AM               

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Originally posted by Daniel on the Moon:
I'll never forget the instance that my name was referred to by Apollo Astronaut Eugene Cernan commander of the Apollo 17 flight while on the lunar surface.

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116:46:42 Cernan: Got it. (Pause) I'm going to miss Danny being out there to hand us those light PLSSs.

116:46:48 Schmitt: That's right. (Pause)

[This is a reference to training exercises. They had practiced donning full-sized PLSSs inside the LM and then trade those for smaller, lightweight units once they were outside. Danny Schaiewitz was the engineer who handed them in. He worked for the manufacturer, Hamilton-Standard. According to Ed Brisson, who headed up the Hamilton-Standard operation at the Cape, Schaiewitz was well liked by the crews and socialized with many of them.]

posted 12-26-2015 01:17 AM               

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Originally posted by Kite:
As someone who lived through those times what I'd done to change places with you.

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posted 12-26-2015 01:29 AM               

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Originally posted by KSCartist:
You might contact the US Space Walk of Fame Foundation in Titusville.

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posted 12-26-2015 02:24 AM               

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Originally posted by RobertB:
I'd like to know how tempted you were to stow away.

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Being as intimately involved with the complexities of the project and hardware on an everyday basis and witnessing test failures, design changes, procedural changes and then try to make "optimism trump pessimism" was difficult and I believe that a majority of workers that were involved with the daily successes and failures were pessimistic but none of us talked about it. The 24/7 schedule to meet deadlines didn't give us time to think or dwell about our pessimism. The fact that you were where you were and doing what you were doing created an incredibly exciting and motivating experience day in and day out. The fact that the ultimate objective to reach the moon was realized made me as well as most workers extremely proud along with a "sigh of relief" that everything "worked".

posted 12-26-2015 09:12 PM               

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Originally posted by Jonnyed:
If so, what are two or three of your favorite items in your collection?

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posted 12-27-2015 06:49 AM               

I have often said in various recruitment efforts that it was not Velcro and other material that were spinoffs from the program it was scientists and engineers.

Danny you said: "When President Kennedy made landing a man on the moon a national goal, I wanted to become involved in the lunar landing program. I established my long range goals, i.e. obtaining a degree in engineering..."

Graduating in 1967 and two years later working Apollo equipment and doing the install before flight, WOW, how amazing is that for a young engineer!

posted 12-27-2015 08:12 PM               

Also, did the Apollo 13 PLSSs ever come into play during that ordeal?

posted 12-28-2015 12:49 AM               

With respect to your Apollo 13 question, "Did the PLSS's come into play." The answer is no. However, Contingency procedures were written "real time" during the mission for possible PLSS use for the following situations: 1) To Use PLSS Water in the LM ECS For Cooling, 2) To Use PLSS Feedwater for Drinking.

posted 12-31-2015 10:05 PM            

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Originally posted by Daniel on the Moon:
The entry from the elevator exit to the open LM forward hatch was covered to provide a "clean room" environment.

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posted 01-01-2016 05:23 PM            

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Originally posted by Paul78zephyr:
You can see what appears to me a squarish 'hatch' on the SLA panel facing the camera.

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posted 01-01-2016 08:13 PM            

So the horizontal bridge from the clean room/gantry led right to this hatch — that's very interesting. Was the fabric cover and its 'flap' over the SLA hatch installed during the time that you accessed the LM inside the SLA?