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Author
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Topic: Apollo 1: Report of "whipped" oxygen hose
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golddog
Member Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008
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posted 09-07-2010 05:58 AM
  
I just finished watching a YouTube video ("1994 One Small Step") in which the former NASA press officer Paul Haney was interviewed. In it he spoke about the Apollo 1 fire and mentioned that during the fire one of the crews oxygen hoses had burnt through and "whipped" around the cockpit "like an acetylene torch" and had "nearly beheaded one of the crew". Whilst I have read about the oxygen hoses burning through and the crew being asphyxiated, I've never heard anything like that before about the Apollo 1 tragedy. Did this really happen? |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 09-07-2010 06:57 AM
It could be that Paul Haney was making reference to this from the Accident Review Board's findings - Finding - Panel 5 had estimated that significant levels (more than two percent) of carbon monoxide were in the spacecraft atmosphere by 6:31:30 p.m. EST. By this time at least one spacesuit had failed, introducing cabin gases to all suit loops. Determination - The crew was exposed to a lethal atmosphere when the first suit was breached. |
Ross
Member Posts: 479
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 09-07-2010 08:44 AM
While it may have "whipped" around the cockpit (it depends on the pressure in the hose), saying "like an acetylene torch" gives the wrong impression that the oxygen hose acted as a torch. That's impossible. Oxygen does not burn. It allows a fuel to burn. One can put a flame to the outlet of an oxygen bottle and, while the flame is held there, it will burn much brighter and with a higher temperature. However, take the flame away and the oxygen will not continue to burn. It requires a fuel such as acetylene. Even in a pure oxygen atmosphere, a spark will not cause a fire unless there is fuel present such as flammable plastics. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4494
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-07-2010 08:46 AM
The fuel source may have been the hose itself... |
golddog
Member Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008
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posted 09-08-2010 12:08 AM
What was indicated in the interview was that the oxygen hose had ignited and the oxygen flowing through it had acted like an acetelyne torch, almost physically decapitating one of the crew. It is this that I have never heard of before. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 09-08-2010 03:43 AM
Here is the full report of the medical panel (see entry for March 31).You'll see that there is no indication of a cause of death other than be asphyxiation.
However, in another part of the report it does say that the hull rupture was caused by a leaking oxygen hose and that temperatures were over 1000 degrees in that vicinity. |
Ross
Member Posts: 479
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 09-08-2010 08:47 AM
I was assuming that the oxygen hose was non-flammable. Any chemist (I'm an Industrial Chemist by profession) will tell you that having an oxygen hose that's flammable would be highly irresponsible. While there was lots of flammable materials in the capsule, someone should have been 'kicked hard' if the oxygen hose was flammable! |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 09-08-2010 01:12 PM
What is flammable and what isn't flammable varies by the conditions it is exposed to. There is a huge difference the flammability of something exposed to regular atmospheric pressure and 20.9% oxygen (which we breathe) and something exposed to 100% oxygen at 16psi above atmospheric pressure. Materials that wouldn't normally burn all that well at regular atmospheric pressure may burn aggressively with pressurized pure oxygen. (I seem to recall in one documentary the claim being made that aluminum will burn under those circumstances.)As such, after the Apollo 1 fire, many items were re-designed to reduce their flammability... including the spacesuits. Hence the introduction of beta cloth into the Apollo program. However, I do find myself doubting that the hoses acted as blow torches, as it appears from photos that the hoses were largely un-burned. The more likely problem is that once the hoses became separated from the spacesuits, they could have distributed additional oxygen into the cabin to help keep the fire alive. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 09-08-2010 02:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
The more likely problem is that once the hoses became separated from the spacesuits, they could have distributed additional oxygen into the cabin to help keep the fire alive.
This is correct as this from the investigation confirms - - Finding
The CM cabin structure was penetrated in the aft bulkhead beneath the environmental control unit and the aft sidewall. Determination The loss of structural integrity at these penetrations occurred after the primary rupture. Failure of the water glycol and oxygen lines near the environmental control unit resulted in local burning and melting of the adjacent structure. - Finding
The aft heatshield stainless-steel face sheets were melted and eroded. Determination The temperature of the flame and gas exiting from the fracture origin exceeded 1640 K (2500 degrees F).
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Rick Boos
Member Posts: 851
From: Celina, Ohio
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 05-05-2011 09:07 AM
I talked to Paul Haney about this at length years ago and about other related Apollo 1 topics. What I found most interesting is what he said "officially" at the time of the accident and what he had to say years later to me especially about how long the crew actually lived and the time frames. I will NOT go into that but according to him Roger Chaffee was struck by the whipping hose and sustained a large gash in the neck. Enough said! |
gleopold
Member Posts: 31
From: Reston, VA, USA
Registered: Jun 2010
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posted 05-10-2011 12:29 PM
Thanks Rick. Along with "asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation due to the fire," Roger Chaffee's autopsy report makes reference to an old fracture along with the non-fatal burns. Interesting that Air Force doctors would mention an old injury, yet make no reference to the large neck gash that Haney reported.Should we be surprised that it appears the Air Force either chose not to mention or simply overlooked the gash in its official autopsy report on Chaffee?
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garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 05-10-2011 12:39 PM
My understanding, which could be in error, is that Paul Haney was a PR person. This profession is typically less detail oriented than the engineering profession. So perhaps he overstated or simply mis-remembered something about the accident. As a 12-year old living in Canada I clearly remember being shocked by the news, so those working closely with the program must have been emotionally overwhelmed. As such if Mr. Haney did remember something incorrectly I don't think we can hold it against him. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3160
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-10-2011 05:36 PM
As another 12-year-old, living on the far side of the Atlantic, I shared your sense of shock. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 05-11-2011 11:46 AM
According to the official accident report the only hose found not to be attached to a suit was the oxygen inlet of the Senior Pilot, i.e. Ed White. |
nojnj
Member Posts: 503
From: Highland Heights, KY
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 06-06-2011 02:48 PM
Is the "1994 One Small Step" video, mentioned in the first post, still available to view online? |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 06-07-2011 05:37 PM
This French space website has black and white photos of the empty, fire damaged Apollo 1 spacesuits.Click on the smaller spacesuit picture for a larger picture. |
dom
Member Posts: 866
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 07-18-2011 03:35 PM
This contemporary BBC News report also gives a good idea of what happened inside the cabin during the fire. |
Space Cadet Carl
Member Posts: 225
From: Lake Orion, Michigan
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 07-19-2011 07:26 PM
That BBC report was interesting an interesting vintage TV report, made about 10 days after the fire. One error in the report was the statement that there was a television camera hanging directly over Ed White's couch when the fire broke out. In fact, I believe the only television camera operating at the time of the fire was in the White Room, pointing straight into the center hatch window on Apollo 1. In the blockhouse, Slayton and others could see White's hands moving quickly over the window in an apparent attempt to open the hatch. |
Kevmac
Member Posts: 270
From: College Station, TX
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 07-19-2011 09:58 PM
I'm sorry, but I don't understand how Chaffee's neck was cut open. Wasn't he wearing his helmet at the time? Even if his visor was open, it must have been difficult for a hose to get in there to gash him. |
JFS61
Member Posts: 101
From: Bryan, Texas USA
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 07-19-2011 11:19 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Rusty B:
This French space website has black and white photos of the empty, fire damaged Apollo 1 spacesuits.
No matter how may times I've seen those photos, they still manage to give me the creeps. |
gleopold
Member Posts: 31
From: Reston, VA, USA
Registered: Jun 2010
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posted 07-25-2011 01:46 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Space Cadet Carl:
One error in the report was the statement that there was a television camera hanging directly over Ed White's couch when the fire broke out.
According to several sources, you are correct: only camera was in the White Room. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 07-25-2011 04:24 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Kevmac:
I'm sorry, but I don't understand how Chaffee's neck was cut open.
Based on the photo of Chaffee's suit, there doesn't appear to be much damage in the area around the neck. Of course, it's hard to make out a lot of detail in these photos and we're only seeing half of the area around the neck. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 07-25-2011 06:23 PM
Looking at the suit photos and the photo on this page of the burned spacecraft interior, I noticed a couple of things. The suit hoses of Grissom and White's are cut in half cleanly and the suit ends of the hose pieces are in the suit photos. Chaffee's hose is not visible in the spacecraft cabin and there are no hose fragments in the suit photo. (I assume the center set of hoses in the cabin are White's and the set leading to the left is Grissom's) There does appear to be a wiring bundle attached above the hose ports on the Chaffee's suit and the end of that wiring bundle (about 1 ft long?) with a connector at its end curves around near the suit neck ring. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1624
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 07-27-2011 06:24 AM
Gus's suit is so badly damaged that parts of it may have just fallen apart when it was removed. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2141
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 07-27-2011 02:49 PM
Gus was closest to the source of the fire and suffered the worst burns during the accident. His suit was bonded to the many strands of nylon and other materials in the spacecraft, I believe it was the the removal process that mainly destroyed the suit (bearing in mind that Grissom still need to be removed from the suit once it was cut away from the craft, although a piece of it did exit the craft when it ruptured). |
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