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  Apollo crew walkout (to launch) imagery (Page 1)

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Author Topic:   Apollo crew walkout (to launch) imagery
LM-12
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posted 02-15-2013 04:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Photo 68-H-927 is a crew walkout photo showing the Apollo 7 crew leaving the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building and walking down the ramp to the transfer van on launch day.

Photo KSC-68P-581 shows the Apollo 8 crew walkout for the CDDT test on December 10. Notice that the ramp is missing.

Was that a different exit perhaps? Just an observation.

Rick Mulheirn
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posted 02-15-2013 04:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The ramp is present in BOTH photos. The perspective of the Apollo 8 shot makes the lines in the ramp look like steps.

But if you look to the left of the ramp on the Apollo 8 shot you can still see the hand rail running down the ramp.

LM-12
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posted 02-15-2013 05:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I guess I should have posted this Apollo 10 clip instead. I knew I saw the steps somewhere.

J.L
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posted 02-15-2013 05:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for J.L   Click Here to Email J.L     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The clip is actually the Apollo 7 back-up crew from sometime in 1968. They of course became the Apollo 10 crew.

LM-12
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posted 02-15-2013 05:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The fact that the clip is actually Apollo 7 related footage and not Apollo 10 certainly makes a difference.

Never trust the captions.

heng44
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posted 02-16-2013 02:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
So we can conclude that the ramp was built in late September or early October 1968. I have a photo of the Apollo 7 crew walkout on 9/17 showing the steps. Presumably the clip of the backup crew was filmed shortly after that. And on Apollo 7 launch day the ramp was present.

DChudwin
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posted 02-16-2013 10:25 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DChudwin   Click Here to Email DChudwin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This picture I took of the Apollo 11 walkout at dawn on July 16, 1969 clearly shows Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin walking down a ramp with railings from the MSOB to the van.

LM-12
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posted 02-16-2013 10:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The "Apollo 10" clip made it look like they might be using a different MSOB exit.

heng44
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posted 02-16-2013 01:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This Apollo 7 photo, taken September 17, 1968, shows the crew using the steps.

On launch day, October 11, the ramp was used but the steps can still be seen.

LM-12
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posted 02-16-2013 01:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great photos. Thanks for sorting that out.

LM-12
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posted 04-17-2013 10:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Was Apollo 11 photo S69-39955 taken on launch day as the caption suggests? I suspect it was not.

J.L
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posted 04-17-2013 10:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for J.L   Click Here to Email J.L     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes it was. A key indicator in suit photos for Apollo 11 is the mission patch. It was not on the suits on any crew suited occasion other than on launch day. Just a meatball on suits for the CDDT.

LM-12
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posted 04-17-2013 10:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I thought it might not be a launch day photo because of the black umbilical hoses. The hoses were white when Armstrong left the MSOB.

David Carey
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posted 04-17-2013 11:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Carey   Click Here to Email David Carey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is a related thread.

LM-12
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posted 04-17-2013 12:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for that link David. You can see a spare Portable Oxygen Ventilator (POV) unit with black hoses being carried into the crew transfer van by a suit technician in this Apollo 11 walkout clip. Maybe that is the ventilator Armstrong is using in photo S69-39955. And thanks J.L. for the tip about the mission patch.

robsouth
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posted 04-18-2013 11:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for robsouth     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Regarding the hoses for Apollo 11 crew members on launch day, take a look at page 94 of the hardback book, 'First On The Moon'.

It states, 'At the 320-foot level Joe Schmitt was no longer in voice communications with the crew. In the van, after the switchover to a second set of portable ventilators (one ventilator will not last a man from suiting room "egress" to spacecraft "ingress"), Schmitt had wished them "a real good flight."

That would explain the change.

Glint
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posted 04-18-2013 02:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Glint   Click Here to Email Glint     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by J.L:
A key indicator in suit photos for Apollo 11 is the mission patch.
Does that patch clue apply only to Apollo 11?

If so, that would explain why the Apollo 7 crew was photographed sporting patches on September 17, 1968 in Ed's post above at "02-16-2013 01:39 PM".

LM-12
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posted 04-18-2013 02:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Other photos indicate that the Apollo 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 crews had mission patches on their spacesuits when they suited up for the CDDT.

LM-12
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posted 04-18-2013 06:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by robsouth:
one ventilator will not last a man from suiting room "egress" to spacecraft "ingress"

Around one half-hour. From about T-3:07 to T-2:40 according to the press kit.

DChudwin
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posted 04-18-2013 09:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DChudwin   Click Here to Email DChudwin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
You can see a spare Portable Oxygen Ventilator (POV) unit with black hoses being carried into the crew transfer van by a suit technician in this Apollo 11 walkout clip.
The second suit tech holding the POV is a young Ron Woods, who remained with the space program through the shuttle program and is now a space artist (his art will be available at Spacefest V in Tucson over Memorial Day). A photo I took of the Apollo 11 walkout shows head suit tech Joe Schmitt on the left and behind him Ron Woods, with Collins and Aldrin in foreground and Deke Slayton just coming out the door.

LM-12
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posted 04-18-2013 11:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I like that clip -- good angle and good quality.

The walkout continues and the crew transfer van departs in this second clip that includes some crowd shots of the news media. Can we see you DC in the crowd? The next scene is an overhead shot of what looks to me like the Apollo 12 crew leaving the transfer van at the pad for the CDDT, since it is not raining.

LM-12
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posted 04-19-2013 09:02 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That sure looks like Kirk Douglas in the crowd watching the Apollo 14 crew walkout in this Apollo Image Gallery photo. Spartacus is a space fan.

J.L
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posted 04-19-2013 09:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for J.L   Click Here to Email J.L     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
That sure looks like Kirk Douglas...
It is. He was there with his wife and two of their sons. Actors Cary Grant and Bob Hope were also at KSC for the launch, but not at the crew walkout.

hlbjr
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posted 04-20-2013 09:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for hlbjr   Click Here to Email hlbjr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just out of curiosity, where would this walkout location be if I were looking at Google Earth? I've always wanted to see it's location.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-20-2013 05:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The astronauts walked out of the crew quarters in the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, which can be seen here in Google Maps.

LM-12
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posted 04-25-2013 01:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The ramp surface changed after Skylab 4. Looks like concrete in ASTP walkout photo KSC-75PC-409.

Who is the man holding the crew transfer van door open? If I am not mistaken, he has been at most if not all the crew walkouts from Gemini to ASTP. Is this him in Gemini 3 walkout photo 65-H-436?

J.L
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posted 04-25-2013 10:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for J.L   Click Here to Email J.L     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The man at the door was the KSC Security Chief - Charles "007" Buckley.

LM-12
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posted 05-27-2014 01:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Are there any walkout photos of the backup crews? They also suited up for pad egress training, did they not?

It would be interesting to see Gordon Cooper and Joe Engle in walkout photos, for example.

schnappsicle
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posted 05-28-2014 04:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for schnappsicle   Click Here to Email schnappsicle     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
In the Apollo 11 photo showing Armstrong and Collins (?) on the crosswalk, it appears that only Armstrong changed POVs. If there wasn't enough oxygen in one ventilator to last a man from suiting room "egress" to spacecraft "ingress", why weren't their POVs changed? Were they recharged in the transfer van? Was the van a leftover from the Gemini days. Maybe that would clear up some of the mysteries.

LM-12
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posted 11-07-2014 07:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Was there no mission emblem on the transfer van door during the Apollo 7 crew walkout on launch day?

mach3valkyrie
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posted 11-07-2014 11:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mach3valkyrie   Click Here to Email mach3valkyrie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It was on the outside of the door. You can see it in the NASA film.

bunnkwio
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posted 11-09-2014 12:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for bunnkwio   Click Here to Email bunnkwio     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by DChudwin:
This picture I took of the Apollo 11 walkout at dawn on July 16, 1969 clearly shows Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin walking down a ramp with railings from the MSOB to the van.
Excellent shots! I tend to forget that although I wasn't born yet, people here in the cS community not only were around to watch, but some were THERE. Would love to see more of the photos you took!

LM-12
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posted 02-02-2015 10:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great launch day footage of the Apollo 16 crew suiting up, the crew walkout and white room activities. Both BPC windows can be seen when the hatch is closed.

carmelo
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posted 02-02-2015 01:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for carmelo   Click Here to Email carmelo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by J.L:
[Kirk Douglas] was there with his wife and two of their sons. Actors Cary Grant and Bob Hope were also at KSC for the launch, but not at the crew walkout.
Were all personal friends of Alan Shepard?

LM-12
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posted 07-17-2015 07:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It looks like this Apollo 7 crew walkout photo was taken on launch day.

LM-12
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posted 07-19-2015 12:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Photo 71-HC-968 shows Apollo 15 astronauts Jim Irwin and Dave Scott exiting the transfer van at Pad 39A on launch day.

Similar photos from some of the other Apollo missions are harder to find. I don't recall seeing any launch day photos of the Apollo 8, 9, 10 and 17 crews exiting the transfer van at the pad.

heng44
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posted 07-20-2015 06:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Photos from Apollo 9 and 10 exist. Haven't seen any for 8 and 17.

LM-12
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posted 07-20-2015 09:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Odd that such photos for the first and last manned missions to the moon would be so hard to find.

Greggy_D
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posted 07-20-2015 01:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Greggy_D   Click Here to Email Greggy_D     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Found one on Spacefacts for 17.

LM-12
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posted 07-20-2015 01:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The hard to find photos we were referring to are of the 8 and 17 crews exiting the transfer van at the pad. See above.


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