Posts: 1608
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 02-28-2008 10:31 AM               

---

Let's suppose Rusty Schweikart had not been able to perform his EVA on Apollo 9, would any consideration have been given to having Gene Cernan perform a similar EVA on Apollo 10? I presume that any such EVA would have been conducted during Earth to Moon phase (as opposed to in earth or lunar orbit). Were there any factors that would have precluded such an EVA?

I presume that NASA considered it important to test the portable life support system (PLSS) and lunar module egress/ingress procedures prior to a landing (but obviously not the EVA emergency crew transfer procedure), but I doubt to the point of requiring another Earth-orbital mission to achieve that goal.

Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008

posted 02-29-2008 11:23 PM            

---

Given that Jim McDivitt, as commander, was also equipped with an EVA spacesuit capable of accommodating the PLSS, I wonder if NASA would have considered allowing him to perform the EVA if Schweickart had not recovered sufficiently to perform the EVA as it eventually occurred?

(I imagine that McDivitt, not having trained for the EVA, would have been a major factor in any decision, but as they were already in orbit, I wonder if that could have been considered or allowed.)

Posts: 3176
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

Posts: 1566
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 03-02-2008 03:54 AM               

---

The concern is there that if one didn't verify the packs, then one wouldn't be able to perform an emergency transfer, which is what the EVA ultimately was supposed to be. This was considered necessary on Apollo 9 before undocking, since if the latching mechanism for the docking system failed to work, then the crew would need to do an emergency transfer back into the command module. The EVA as it finally was done just had Rusty on the porch testing the PLSS system.

Big problem with having the commander do the test is that both the craft would still need to be depressurized and as such, the lunar module pilot would still be in a hard suit. So if the LMP still had a queasy stomach, then he still might puke in his helmet and choke on the contents and die before the cabin could be repressurized in either the command or lunar modules.

I think if it came down to that, somebody probably higher up would have come up with a revised mission rule to proceed with undocked operations anyway to fly the lunar module based on as much tested had been done with the hatch mechanisms. Given how much was riding on Apollo 9 and given the bold step taken in Apollo 8, I have a feeling that is the way it would have gone.

Posts: 185
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 03-02-2008 05:43 AM               

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by micropooz:
I think they just would have just done the EVA during the translunar coast on Apollo 10.

---

If you follow the logic described in Walt Cunningham's book, it might be that it would have ended up on his slightly-less-optimistic trajectory, with the first lunar landing ending up with Apollo 12 — which Walt seemed to think was more likely in the first place.

On the other hand, NASA did seem willing to make quick changes then, and the previous post might be correct that they would have shuffled arrangements to accommodate the problem, and still kept things on schedule.

Posts: 1352
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 03-02-2008 06:24 AM               

---

I would think McDivitt would had to have been trained for an emergency transfer. If after the LM undocked and performed its tests when it redocked and could not open the transfer tunnel, McDivitt would have to make an EVA transfer.

Gene Cernan might have had one very long day on Apollo 10.

Posts: 1608
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 01-02-2021 09:45 PM               

---

Revisiting my question from 2008, is there any further insight now about whether there was a discussion or consideration that, if Schweikart's EVA on Apollo 9 had been canceled, Cernan would have done it during Apollo 10?

(On review: I completely forgot I had posed that very same question 12+ years ago. They say memory is the first to go when you get older. )

Posts: 1697
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005

Posts: 400
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Jan 2012

posted 01-04-2021 11:29 PM               

---

First of all, Schweickart was nauseated. He would have had to put his suit on anyway if McDivitt had to perform the EVA. Schweickart would have been at risk regardless. Yes the nausea was caused by sudden movement in space. Staying still helped, but once the nausea hit, there was always a chance it would come up again.

I wonder if Schweickart did expel in his suit would he have been able to open a valve to depress slightly (like Leonov did), sending his stomach contents into space? Not trying to be gross, but something tells me with all the accidents they had in the Vomit Comet, you'd think they would make some provision for it during non-gravitational EVAs.

I would have loved to see Cernan doing an EVA in lunar orbit.

Posts: 1582
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010