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Author
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Topic: Apollo CM crew egress after splashdown
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LM-12
Member Posts: 725
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-02-2013 10:56 AM
  
In what order did the Apollo astronauts egress the CM after splashdown? I don't think it was always CDR last.- Apollo 7: ?-?-?
- Apollo 8: ?-?-?
- Apollo 9: Scott-Schweickart-McDivitt
- Apollo 10: ?-?-Cernan
- Apollo 11: Armstrong-Collins-Aldrin
- Apollo 12: Conrad-Gordon-Bean
- Apollo 13: Swigert-Haise-Lovell
- Apollo 14: Mitchell-Roosa-Shepard
- Apollo 15: Worden-Irwin-Scott
- Apollo 16: ?-?-Young
- Apollo 17: Schmitt-Evans-Cernan
The list is incomplete, so feel free to make any additions and/or corrections. |
fredtrav
Member Posts: 871
From: Birmingham AL USA
Registered: Aug 2010
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posted 01-02-2013 11:31 AM
On Apollo 16, I believe it was Duke, Mattingly, and then Young. can not find the source for this but I seemed to remeber that was the order. I know Duke opened the hatch and greeted the frogman and I read somewhere he was the first out. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-02-2013 01:38 PM
According to an old newspaper report, for Apollo 7 it was Eisele, Cunningham, Schirra. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-02-2013 02:15 PM
I found another old newspaper report for Apollo 8.New York Times - Dec 28, 1968 "Captain Lovell climbed out and into one of the rafts, followed by Colonel Borman and Major Anders..." |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-02-2013 03:06 PM
This Apollo 16 recovery photo (72-HC-452), shows astronaut Mattingly being helped from the spacecraft, if you look into the lower right side of the hatchway opening, you can see astronaut Duke still in the spacecraft. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 725
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-02-2013 09:03 PM
Ken Mattingly states in the Apollo 16 Flight Journal that he was the one who opened the hatch. So I guess the Apollo 16 order was Mattingly-Duke-Young. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-02-2013 09:51 PM
In this picture of the Apollo 10 crew egress (S69-20638), you can see Cernan just exiting the the hatch, Young, standing, being helped into the raft and Stafford already seated. So the exit sequence was probably Stafford, Young, Cernan. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 725
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-02-2013 10:11 PM
Looks that way to me also. So that completes the list. Thanks for doing the research, guys.- Apollo 7: Eisele-Cunningham-Schirra
- Apollo 8: Lovell-Borman-Anders
- Apollo 10: Stafford-Young-Cernan
- Apollo 16: Mattingly-Duke-Young
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Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-02-2013 11:34 PM
Might as well list the remaining Apollo spacecraft missions.All of the Apollo spacecraft used in Skylab and ASTP were hoisted onto the carrier deck with the crew still in the spacecraft. The egress sequence was: - Skylab 2 - Conrad, Weitz, Kerwin
- Skylab 3 - Lousma, Garriot, Bean
- Skylab 4 - Gibson, Pouge, Carr
- ASTP - Stafford, Brand, Slayton
Based on the egress still picture (S73-29141) and video from YouTube the Skylab 2 sequence was Conrad, Weitz, Kerwin. (Egress starts at 7:35 on video).Based on the egress video from YouTube the Skylab 3 sequence was Lousma, Garriot, Bean. (Egress starts at 7:45 on video) Still photo (S73-36451). Based on the egress still picture (S74-17744) and video from YouTube the Skylab 4 sequence was Gibson, Pouge, Carr (Egress starts at 25:22 on video). Based on the egress video from YouTube the ASTP sequence was Stafford, Brand, Slayton. (Egress starts at 9:20 on video). |
fredtrav
Member Posts: 871
From: Birmingham AL USA
Registered: Aug 2010
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posted 01-03-2013 12:07 AM
In "Moonwalker," Charlie Duke states that "Then we heard a rap on the door. This was the all clear to open the hatch. I opened it up and staring back at me was a frogman still in his scuba gear." He goes on to say that he shook his hand (pages 225-226). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 725
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-03-2013 08:15 AM
Hard to say who opened the hatch since they both claimed to have done so. In either case, I don't think that changes the A16 crew egress order based on photo 72-HC-452. Maybe the hatch was opened twice. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-03-2013 11:17 AM
The large interior hatch release handle is closest to the right hand couch where Duke was laying. He may have pulled the release handle and when then shook hands with the diver when the hatch opened. Mattingly may have assisted in working the hatch mechanism, also. So they both probably worked together to open the hatch. Judging by the photo, Duke would have had to be a contortionist to exit ahead of Mattingly, however. |
dabolton
Member Posts: 188
From: Round Lake, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 01-03-2013 06:07 PM
What was risk exposure to breathing toxic fumes after an Apollo landing? The shuttle had large fans rolled out to clear any residual fumes. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2182
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 01-03-2013 09:45 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dabolton:
What was risk exposure to breathing toxic fumes after an Apollo landing? The shuttle had large fans rolled out to clear any residual fumes.
The residual thruster fuel as I recall was dumped overboard according to the checklist during the descent on parachutes (at least up through Apollo 15). When the capsule splashed down and during the time needed to inflate the bags to take it from stable two to stable one position, that likely would give enough time for sea water to scrub any residual propellant out of the thrusters ports. So risk of exposure was likely tiny at best once the hatch was cracked open. According to Al Worden's book "Falling to Earth", there was very little wind the day Apollo 15 came home and during the propellant dump, a nice big red cloud of hypergolic propellant drifted up into the chutes instead of getting blown sideways away from the ship. It caused one of the main chutes to streamer and was eating holes in a second one when they splashed down (a landing with two chutes was fine, but one chute... not so much). I don't know if the procedure was altered after that. Now on Apollo's recovery on ASTP, thruster exhaust exposure did cause a problem with the astronauts due to the ELS switches not being actuated properly. During the automatic ELS sequence, the cute apex cover would be jettisoned, the thrusters shut down and the drogue chutes fired. Due to the switch not being set, the apex cover and drogue chutes were deployed manually while the thrusters remained active. When the chutes deployed, the still active thrusters tried to counteract the sway of the capsule under the chutes and thruster exhaust from the roll control thrusters got sucked into the already opened cabin relief pressure valve located near a couple of the ports (the valve was designed to equalize pressure between the inside and outside of the capsule when it descended low enough). So the crew ended up having a few problems due to toxic thruster exhaust exposure and Vance Brand passed out as a result until Stafford was able to get an emergency oxygen mask on him. I'm not sure if the propellant dump procedure for Skylab and ASTP (or even Apollo 16 and 17) was the same as it was for previous Apollo missions once somebody figured out that a propellant dump might cause a few more pressing issues with the parachutes. I also don't know exactly where the propellant dump port is either on Apollo (presumably far away from the air equalization valve inlet). The fuel supply for an Apollo CSM is much smaller than it is for shuttle, which has three separate hypergolic fuel tank areas in it. One is the foreward RCS and each OMS pod houses its own hypergolic tankage (for dual redundancy purposes). The shuttle RCS is also a bit bigger and more complicated than Apollo. In addition to that, there are also APU exhaust vents located between the orbiter tail and the OMS pods. The APUs use hydrazine as fuel. Even though much of the shuttle's RCS propellant is dumped overboard during reentry, the thing is still practically a flying toxic waste dump when it touches down and a leak can potentially be a lot nastier (especially with no ocean water to help scrub things down a little bit). Hence, the desire to have a fan there to blow potential fumes away and a sniffer team to go out and check for fumes before anyone else can even get close long before the side hatch gets cracked open. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-03-2013 09:54 PM
On this YouTube video about the Apollo 16 mission, you can see what appears to be the RCS fuel dump at 27:30 through 27:35 (when the cloud reaches the right parachute) while the spacecraft is descending. Watch for the faint black cloud that comes from the spacecraft. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 725
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-05-2013 09:12 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
I'm not sure if the propellant dump procedure for Skylab and ASTP (or even Apollo 16 and 17) was the same as it was for previous Apollo missions once somebody figured out that a propellant dump might cause a few more pressing issues with the parachutes.
From the Apollo 15 30-Day Failure and Anomaly Listing Report: The reaction control system is still suspected, but the mechanism has not been established. However, measures are being taken to inhibit the minus pitch engines and possibly one of each pair of opposing roll engines during the reaction control system depletion firing, thus reducing the potential damage to the parachute risers resulting from heat or oxidizer. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 1441
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-05-2013 10:47 AM
It is wrong to assume that sea water would wash away remaining propellants. Recovery crews were warned to be wary of working near the thruster ports as any residual propellant would turn to nitric acid when in contact with water. The crews had plugs to insert into the thruster ports and these had pipes that led to buckets away from the floating capsule.Recovery procedures had to be strictly followed particularly as the hazardous area included the hatch through which the astronauts exited the spacecraft. As a point of interest - the descent rate for Apollo on three parachutes was 32 ft/sec and on two it rose to 36 ft/sec. |
MSS
Member Posts: 356
From: Kolo, Poland
Registered: May 2003
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posted 01-05-2013 12:51 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Rusty B:
The egress sequence was: - Skylab 2 - Conrad, Kerwin, Weitz
The correct sequence was: - Skylab 2 - Conrad, Weitz, Kerwin
According to video you mention and NASA MR-13 "Man Still Matters" - The Story of The First Skylab Mission on page 8 the photo with such description: "Conrad and Weitz receive cheers after stepping from their Apollo command module onto the recovery vessel, Ticonderoga. Kerwin, in back-ground, is emerging from module." ------------------
Astronauts, Cosmonauts & their flights |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-06-2013 03:10 PM
You are correct, it was Conrad, Weitz, Kerwin for Skylab 2. After Conrad exited, the video cut away to a view of spectators before cutting back just as Kerwin exited last. That's what threw me off. I have corrected my posting above. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 01-07-2013 01:28 AM
Here's a command module deactivation procedures document for the landing safing team I found on the NASA Technical Reports server:Apollo S/C deactivation procedures for landing safing team. Mission AS501 (SC017), Publication Date: Sep 15, 1967, Number of pages = 394, PDF Size: 10.8 MB Here's a later command module postretrieval procedures document for the recovery team: Apollo postretrieval procedures for NASA recovery team, Publication Date: Aug 5, 1970, Number of pages = 271, PDF Size: 9.1 MB |
LM-12
Member Posts: 725
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 04-02-2013 08:46 AM
With the Apollo crew egress list now complete, any interest out there in expanding on this theme?In what order were the Gemini and Apollo astronauts hoisted up to the recovery helicopter after splashdown? Here is my list #2 so far. Feel free to make any additions or corrections. - Gemini 3 ... Grissom-Young
- Gemini 4 ... McDivitt-White
- Gemini 5 ... Conrad-Cooper
- Gemini 7 ... Lovell-Borman
- Gemini 6A ... crew stayed in spacecraft
- Gemini 8 ... crew stayed in spacecraft
- Gemini 9A ... crew stayed in spacecraft
- Gemini 10 ... Collins-Young
- Gemini 11 ... Conrad-Gordon
- Gemini 12 ... Lovell-Aldrin
- Apollo 7 ... Eisele-Cunningham-Schirra
- Apollo 8 ... Anders-?-?
- Apollo 9 ... ?-?-?
- Apollo 10 ... Cernan-?-?
- Apollo 11 ... ?-?-Armstrong
- Apollo 12 ... Gordon-Bean-Conrad
- Apollo 13 ... Haise-Swigert-Lovell
- Apollo 14 ... Roosa-Mitchell-Shepard
- Apollo 15 ... Scott-Irwin-Worden
- Apollo 16 ... Duke-Mattingly-Young
- Apollo 17 ... Schmitt-Evans-Cernan
- Skylab 2 ... crew stayed in spacecraft
- Skylab 3 ... crew stayed in spacecraft
- Skylab 4 ... crew stayed in spacecraft
- ASTP ... crew stayed in spacecraft
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