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Author
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Topic: Apollo CM vacuum chamber test personnel
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compass
Member Posts: 42
From: uk
Registered: May 2007
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posted 10-09-2009 07:20 AM
  
I have reviewed some footage of extensive vacuum chamber testing conducted throughout the course of the Apollo command module development. The command module was occupied by personnel sealed away inside the command module for 14 days. Were these personnel just test engineers or did some of the astronaut corps take part in this activity also? |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-09-2009 09:02 AM
Prior to the flight of Apollo 7 in two tests there were astronauts involved. - Jim Lovell, Stu Roosa and Charlie Duke spent a couple of days bobbing about in the Gulf of Mexico to test the seaworthiness of the Apollo capsule in the event of a delayed recovery. This was accomplished with no problems apart from a little water splashing in through a post-landing air vent.
- Joe Kerwin, Vance Brand and Joe Engle spent an 8 day simulation in a test called "2TV-1." It qualified the Apollo capsule for flight. Among the problems reported were difficulty in closing the hatch, water lines sweating, headsets that didn't work, packaging problems with the food and drinking water.
Apart from the above, John Young attended the final acceptance tests of the flight capsule. His only critisism was that some items (pumps, fans, inverters) were operated for longer than was good for them. Nevertheless, the capsule was "...a pretty clean machine." |
E2M Lem Man
Member Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 10-09-2009 03:14 PM
In an unremembered 1966 test, three volunteers got into a Apollo Block One spacecraft (mock-up?) and conducted an 11-day "flight" in the thermal vacuum chamber here in building 288 at the Downey assembly facility.
The craft did not have a complete interior, and the crew wore Apollo 1 type modified Gemini space suits for the "mission".Upon exiting they were greeted by Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, as well as Frank Borman. |
John Charles
Member Posts: 342
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 10-09-2009 09:24 PM
quote:
Originally posted by E2M Lem Man:
Apollo Block One spacecraft (mock-up?)
Yes, an actual production spacecraft, CM-007 if I recall correctly. Don't think a mock-up would be much of a comfort in the thermal vacuum chamber.Kerwin and Givens participated in one such test along with an engineer. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3413
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 10-10-2009 06:53 AM
CSM-008 (Block I) - First manned test:
August 1-9, 1966Crew:
Donald R. Garrett
Neil R. Anderson
Joel M. Rosenweig Backup crew:
Joseph A. Gagliano
William M. Anderson
Michael K. Lake - Second manned test:
October 26-November 1, 1966Crew:
Edward G. Givens
Joseph P. Kerwin
Joseph A. Gagliano
Apollo 2TV-1 (Block II) |
compass
Member Posts: 42
From: uk
Registered: May 2007
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posted 10-13-2009 04:39 AM
quote:
Originally posted by E2M Lem Man:
...and conducted an 11-day "flight" in the thermal vacuum chamber here in building 288 at the Downey assembly facility
When you read reports such as this, one can understand how no one foreseen the hazards associated with conditions and events surrounding the Apollo 1 fire. A thermal vacuum chamber test using a mock up as described and occupied by test engineers was surely a disaster waiting to happen. |
jdcupp
Member Posts: 45
From: Cookeville, TN, USA
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-13-2009 09:23 AM
That is an interesting question, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the internal CM pressures during the Apollo 1 plugs-out test much greater than they would have been in a vacuum chamber test? I believe they had to compensate for the test being conducted in a sea level atmosphere. |
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