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Author
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Topic: Apollo 11: Lunar Equipment Conveyor as tether
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Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 07-10-2009 06:38 PM
   
After getting Buzz Aldrin's latest literary work, I was reliving Apollo 11 like most of us.I, along with thousands of other cS'ers, was descending those last few steps down Eagle's ladder when I was stopped cold -- is this a misprint? There on page 31, Buzz states Neil was tethered to the ladder. Was this something I missed all these years? I don't believe I've heard other reference to a tether. I know they had tethers for emergency transfers to the CM. Have I been misinformed (dumb) all these years? Where was it hooked up to on the suit? |
randy
Member Posts: 2231
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 07-10-2009 07:15 PM
I don't remember hearing that before. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 07-10-2009 07:59 PM
At some point shortly after descending the ladder, Neil had hold of the "clothesline" for Buzz to send him down the Hasselblad. Maybe that's what Buzz meant?EDIT: I just watched the new Apollo 11 DVD from Barnes and Noble, and in the 16mm footage, Neil very clearly has the clothesline attached to his suit as he steps off the LM footpad. I wouldn't say he was 'tethered' in the sense of weightless EVAs, but he did have a line running from him back into the LM cabin. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-10-2009 09:08 PM
The "clothesline", or as it was formally referred to, the Lunar Equipment Conveyor or LEC, was attached by carabiner to Neil's neckring tiedown strap on one end and to a pulley hanging from Eagle's cabin ceiling on the other. Despite its nickname, the LEC bore little resemblance to a clothesline and could fairly be labeled a tether. 
Photo credit: NASA/ALSJ |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 07-10-2009 10:48 PM
Okay guys I was wrong. I guess I misread the statement. I know about the line for the equipment, I guess mistook tether for conveyor line.I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I apologize. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1940
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 07-11-2009 05:48 AM
Gosh Lou, no need to apologize - you got something clarified, and a lot of us learned something new.This shows how much I need to watch the EVA footage, but equipment was really sent down a little pulley from whoever was still in the LM to whoever was already on the surface? Anything besides the camera? And could someone say at what time index this occurs, so when I get a good DVD set (thank you, students, for those Barnes and Noble gift cards!) I can look for it? Thanks for the good, quick photo, Robert. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-11-2009 07:40 AM
I agree Steve, we all learn by asking questions so no apologies necessary. The discussion of the LEC begins at mission elapsed time 109:15:55, per the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Armstrong: Now we're ready to hook up the LEC here. |
apolloguy
New Member Posts: 6
From: Boulder, CO, USA
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 07-11-2009 08:11 AM
I think Lou was right. Page 31 clearly states NA "was tethered to the ladder". Even if you stretched it and call the clothesline a tether, it wasn't attached to the ladder. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-11-2009 08:22 AM
Further to this discussion, see Eric Jones' Apollo 11 Tether. In November 2004, Mark Gray of Spacecraft Films called attention to the fact that, during the climb down the LM ladder and during his first moments after stepping off the footpad, Neil was tethered. My first thought was that Mark was mistaken; but, during e-mail discussion with Mark and others via e-mail, a body of confirming evidence grew quickly over a few days. Mark was right. Here is what we found. quote:
Originally posted by apolloguy:
"was tethered to the ladder"
Indeed, that would be incorrect as to the attach point, but Jones and Gray (along with Chaikin and others) make for a convincing argument that the LEC was intentionally used as a safety tether for Armstrong's first steps on the lunar surface. |
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