|
Author
|
Topic: Apollo lunar module test window implosion (1967)
|
Spacepsycho
Member Posts: 819
From: Huntington Beach, Calif.
Registered: Aug 2004
|
posted 12-01-2014 07:23 PM
   
So I'm at a gun show this last weekend, I'm chatting with an antiques/estate dealer and I ask if he runs across any space program artifacts. He pauses then asks "why" and I tell him I'm a fanatic for the space program and he starts laughing. He proceeds to tell me that he was the chief engineer at Grumman who was in charge of the lunar module test when the window imploded at Bethpage. He said the higher ups at Grumman weren't too happy with him after the window failure test debacle. He has tons of LM test, training and construction photos. I'll be going through and possibly scanning them. I'll be talking with him this week, does anyone have any questions about this test or the LM? |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
|
posted 12-03-2014 04:49 PM
Ray, the window that failed was the CMD left side on LM 5 Eagle. |
David Carey
Member Posts: 802
From:
Registered: Mar 2009
|
posted 12-03-2014 08:45 PM
Great story.Personally, I'd like to hear more about 'what went wrong', either from an engineering or a management perspective. The root cause had been mentioned before and maybe that was all there was to the story. It would still be interesting to know how a glass defect got through what were likely very strict QA procedures. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4208
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
|
posted 12-04-2014 03:45 AM
Ray, I'd love to see some of the scanned photos some time. The TV series "Moon Machines" would have us believe that Grumman never really understood what caused the window to fail. Was that the case? Why was management unhappy with him, if the cause was unknown? To this day, the official cause of the Apollo 1 fire is unexplained but there are several plausible explanations held by those that examined the spacecraft following the fire for which there is corroborative evidence. If management were unhappy with him, that would suggest that management believed the test engineer culpable in some way. |
David C
Member Posts: 1039
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
|
posted 12-04-2014 11:18 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
If management were unhappy with him, that would suggest that management believed the test engineer culpable in some way.
Well, that's one possibility. Another (in my experience, more likely), is that management found themselves embarrassed. Generally, if there's evidence of culpability managers tend to do more than just feel unhappy. |
advertisement