posted July 06, 2009 09:51 PM               

He claimed that the AG-7 ink pen was used to push in the bi-metallic strip of the breaker assembly, thus "saving" two of the Apollo 11 crew from being stranded on the moon.

In fact, it was stated by the crew following the flight, and years later confirmed by Aldrin that he used the black felt-tip marker, made by the Duro company, to punch in the remains of the breaker.

Today, Fisher AG-7's are readily available, but vintage models usually fetch higher prices. The Duro markers, however, are long out of production and very scarce. While the company made an attempt to market them as "used by the Apollo astronauts," the claim never quite caught on like it did for Fisher.

posted July 23, 2009 08:53 AM               

On page 489-490 he tells the story about the broken switch which was fixed with a part of the pen:

For example, the outer knob of an ascent engine-arming circuit breaker broke off, which Buzz was able to depress prior to liftoff with a felt-tipped pen.

But they still had their Space Pens, and so were advised to retract the point and use the hollow end of the pen to activate the inside switch. Aldrin then used his Space Pen to flick the switch, lifting Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely to the moon.

[In his book, Men from Earth Buzz elaborates, "We discovered during a long checklist recitation that the ascent engine's arming circuit breaker was broken off on the panel. The little plastic pin (or knob) simply wasn't there. This circuit would send electrical power to the engine that would lift us off the moon...We looked around for something to punch in this circuit breaker. Luckily, a felt-tipped pen fit into the slot."]

posted July 23, 2009 08:57 AM               

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Originally posted by perssj:
I guess than it was a felt-tip pen and not the ball-point Fisher Space Pen used?

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posted July 25, 2009 03:09 PM            

I wonder if there were two broken breakers. The only other thing that makes sense to me is that they did in fact send up the instructions to work around the broken breaker, but that at the last moment Buzz, perhaps forgetting they had done so, jammed in the pen, thus creating in his own mind the memory of solving the problem this way.

Does anyone else have more info on this? I've always wondered about the inconsistency in the two versions.

posted July 26, 2009 06:05 PM            

Which makes me wonder whether the pen in the breaker, an idea which according to this book was rejected, was just carried out despite the work-around, and the astronauts have forgotten about that.

posted July 27, 2009 01:22 AM            

A copy of the 30th Anniversary Celebration Program includes a mission summary, which states that the post-EVA current draw for the LM was 2 amps greater than expected, and investigating this led to the discovery that Buzz had pressed several breakers and broken one.

I can find no mention in the Journal of any extraordinary procedures sent to the LM to bypass the switch just that it is closed and ready for the ascent.

posted April 19, 2011 09:05 PM               

The evening of the breaking of the push-pull operating button, several techs were called into the Lab to determine how to safely reset the breaker. Once the breaker was reset they would not be able to reopen it without the pull button so they didn't want to reset until it was needed for the assent.

We proceeded by breaking several breakers in the same manor as had occurred on the moon. We quickly determined the breakers could be reset by pressing in on the broken end of the button shaft with anything that would fit without affecting the calibration or normal function of the breaker.

That information was relayed to the astronauts "stuck" on the moon.

posted April 19, 2011 09:55 PM               

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Originally posted by faintgalaxy:
From 1968 to 2/1971 I worked as a tech for Mechanical Products Inc. in Jackson, MI. where we built the circuit breakers/switches used in the Apollo and LM space craft.

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posted August 15, 2011 09:04 AM               

How did you get them? I regret not snagging a scrap one while I was working there.

This is a good example of the efficiency of government programs. The breakers we built for the LM were quite different from the Apollo ones and cost much much more, but operated in the same environment. The LM breakers were in sealed stainless steel cases utilizing a stainless bellows on the actuator shaft and back filled with dry nitrogen.

posted August 15, 2011 07:04 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by faintgalaxy:
How did you get them? I regret not snagging a scrap one while I was working there.

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posted August 18, 2011 05:22 PM               

Do not believe Craig Nelson's account in his 2009 book "Rocket Men" (do not believe much of anything in this train wreck of a book) in which he implies Aldrin used the pen to push in the circuit breaker at the moment of lunar liftoff.

This is not true.

No less an expert than Eric Jones (of Apollo Lunar Surface Journal fame) informed me that Aldrin used the pen about two hours before liftoff.

posted August 22, 2011 02:19 AM            

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Originally posted by tfrielin:
Tom Kelly's account that they re-routed the electrical signals to by-pass the circuit breaker is correct -- Eagle was going to liftoff the moon with or without Aldrin's pen.

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Personally, I think that Kelly's story rings true, and the redundant circuitry would be the first and obvious choice - think about it - that's exactly what the redundant circuits were laced there for, and sticking a pen into a broken component controlling the only engine that can get them home is not the logical and safe way to get out of this problem.

It does however sound like something a pilot would do, and a logical backup to try IF the redundant circuits didn't do the trick. I've always thought that probably the instructions were uplinked and followed, but then at the last moment Aldrin also used the pen 'just in case', and of course remembers it as the fix to the problem.

posted August 22, 2011 04:20 PM            

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Originally posted by Larry McGlynn:
Nelson describes a complete Saturn V stack doing a complete "U-turn" and heading towards the ground.

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Because of the various problems, however, the SII had kept itself from pitching over as planned, so its altitude was higher than it was supposed to be. This was even more confusing to the computer guiding the SIVB, which realised it was higher than it should be... and slower. So while it added 29 seconds to the burn, it actually pointed itself down toward the center of the earth.

That couldn't go on, of course. Eventually the SIVB realised it was pointing low, so it pitched back up. Way up. They say it actually went into orbit thrusting backward, and wound up in an elliptical orbit rather than the circular one needed.

posted August 23, 2011 02:06 AM               

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
Could he have drawn his account from "Deke", at page 209 where Deke Slayton describes the problems on Apollo 6?

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The account quoted is repeated (or copied from by Slayton) in Apollo by Murray and Cox. The Apollo version explains the problems facing Bob Wolf too.

posted August 23, 2011 08:28 PM               

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Originally posted by Larry McGlynn:
...an insult to the trees that gave their lives for it's publication.

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posted August 23, 2011 10:35 PM               

Buzz also confirmed it in "The Wonder of it All."

posted September 14, 2011 05:18 PM               

I'm not registered for that site and don't care to so I can't reply to him there, but the reality of the broken circuit breaker story is thus:

1. Craig Nelson's account of it in Rocket Men is misleading as his narrative implies that Aldrin used the pen to arm the circuit breaker at the moment of liftoff. This is wrong as Aldrin used the pen two hours before liftoff. And,

2. Tom Kelly's engineers at Grumman in the meantime found a way to re-route the electrical signals to the ascent stage arming to by-pass that particular circuit.

3. So, Aldrin did use the pen, but it was not necessary as Kelly's men had already solved the circuit breaker problem.

And my verifiable sources are : e-mail correspondence with Eric Jones of ALSJ fame who interviewed Aldrin on the timing and Tom Kelly's book Moon Lander (also referenced by someone on this huckster's site.

posted September 14, 2011 07:55 PM               

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Originally posted by Obviousman:
Of interest, a hoax believer is trying to use this thread as proof that Buzz was lying about using the pen.

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