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Author
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Topic: Apollo 1 plugs-in test (Jan. 26, 1967)
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Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1624
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 11-22-2006 10:15 PM
   
I've heard about the plugs-in test that Wally Schirra and his crew conducted with the Apollo 1 spacecraft the day before the fire on Jan. 26, 1967. He has said that there were a number of problems that he told Gus Grissom about. Anyone know what they were? |
Duke Of URL
Member Posts: 1316
From: Syracuse, NY
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 11-27-2006 09:45 PM
I really think "Schirra's Space" would be the best source today for what was on Capt. Schirra's mind and what he told Col. Grissom.I don't have my copy handy, but it's my recollection communication was the biggest gripe. I know that problem was directly mentioned and the strong implication was that there were others as well. I'm sure you're familiar with his admonition to Gus that he should stop the test if anything made him unhappy. The peculiar odor of the plugs-out test wasn't mentioned. (This much I know off the top of my head.) |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1624
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 11-28-2006 09:16 AM
I've read Schirra's Space and he doesn't get specific. I got the impression that it was a pilot's gut feeling. |
DR Oakes
Member Posts: 16
From: Poplarville
Registered: Jan 2017
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posted 04-28-2017 06:49 PM
In Wally Schirra's autobiography, "Schirra's Space," he wrote that after the plugs-in test on Jan. 26, 1967, there was a debriefing, where Gus Grissom, Wally, and Joe Shea attended.Wally said "Frankly, Gus, I don't like it. You're going to be in in there with full oxygen tomorrow, and if you have the same feeling I do, I suggest you get out." All other writings I've seen say no one thought the 100% pure oxygen was hazardous. Does anyone have thoughts on the accuracy of Wally's warning? Editor's note: Threads merged. |
YankeeClipper
Member Posts: 622
From: Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2011
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posted 04-28-2017 09:44 PM
An excellent book to consult is Duane (Doc) Graveline's From Laika With Love: Secret Soviet Gifts to Apollo and the part written by Dr. Fred Kelly, "We Have a Fire in the Cockpit." There's good information on previous US and Russian experiences with enriched oxygen environments and the associated dangers.Wally was priming Gus with a verbal admonition to obey his own intuition or any somatic markers (gut feelings) that told him that the situation was too dangerous to continue. Test pilots maintain excellent situational awareness (SA) and operate perception levels that border on precognition. They have a highly refined ability to "stay ahead of the airplane." Wally's warning was remarkably prescient. Gus's lemon, the sour smell and the communications problems were portents of a catastrophic event or systemic failure. One heuristic that I've found, through observation and experience, is accurate is this: once you move from merely thinking about an event occurring to actually verbalising about it occurring, that's a definite indicator that the probability of that event occurring has increased and you need to take immediate remedial action or employ mitigation strategies. For example, trauma doctors know that if a seriously injured patient starts to tell them that they feel like they're going to die, that's a portentous sign of clinical deterioration and a potential pre-arrest indicator. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 04-29-2017 02:23 AM
I would have thought that this test would have had a detailed mention in the Apollo 204 investigation report. However, a quick scan through it has failed to find any specific reference. An oversight or were any comments made by the crew considered not to be relevant? | |
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