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Author
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Topic: Apollo 11: Leaking joint sealed by ice pre-launch
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moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-28-2014 06:56 AM
   
Trawling through the backwaters of manned space flight I came across this curious item.The Apollo 11 launch was saved by a bucket of water thrown over a leaking LH joint on the feed lines to the third stage so sealing a leak that had failed to respond to the tightening of the bolts on the valve. This made the computer controlled valve inoperable but allowed the tank to be replenished by other means. |
schnappsicle
Member Posts: 396
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted 10-28-2014 12:42 PM
I'm glad it worked. Had it failed, we would have lost 3 great men. |
sts205cdr
Member Posts: 649
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted 10-28-2014 02:02 PM
They probably would have scrubbed the launch, but in any case Armstrong was experienced in aborting, having ejected in Korea and from the LLRV. |
space1
Member Posts: 861
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 10-28-2014 03:55 PM
This sounds like a LH supply line from ground tanks to the Saturn. They wouldn't "repair" a flight vehicle valve this way. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-28-2014 04:42 PM
This quote from the PAO at the time. The '100 feet below' refers to the White Room. In the meantime, about 100 feet below, we have a technician – a team of technicians working on a leaking valve which is a part of the Ground Support Equipment, a part of the system that's used to replenish the fuel supply for the third stage of the Saturn V rocket. He is proceeding to tighten a series of bolts around this valve in the hope that this will correct the leak. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 10-28-2014 08:52 PM
quote:
Originally posted by schnappsicle:
I'm glad it worked. Had it failed, we would have lost 3 great men.
No, they just wouldn't have launched. |
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