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Author
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Topic: Number of pilots needed to fly the Apollo CSM
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HistoryDiscussion
unregistered
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posted 03-20-2015 01:09 AM
 
Does anyone know why the Skylab III rescue mission of 1973 was to be flown by two men rather than one? Vance Brand was highly trained at the CSM position and could have flown the mission by himself.Why I ask this is because on lunar missions, the Apollo CSM could be flown by a single pilot, the Command Module Pilot all the way back from the Moon. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1217
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 03-20-2015 06:39 AM
 
The Skylab rescue mission would have rescued a three man crew. They were going to add two couches under the three already there. There was only room for five crew members total. |
space1
Member Posts: 861
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 03-20-2015 07:19 AM
It was probably a matter of easing the pilot workload, and having a second set of eyes on everything. It probably could have been done with one, but easier and safer with two.By the way, welcome to collectSPACE! |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 03-20-2015 10:14 AM
In fact, the rescuees were not just payload... They were pilots in their own right, with one fully qualified CSM pilot... |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 03-20-2015 01:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by HistoryDiscussion:
Why I ask this is because on lunar missions, the Apollo CSM could be flown by a single pilot, the Command Module Pilot all the way back from the Moon.
That was the last half of the mission. He would not have launched alone on the Saturn V. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 03-20-2015 02:23 PM
Wouldn't the Skylab rescue mission be launched on a Saturn 1B? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 03-20-2015 04:16 PM
Okay, just Saturn. It doesn't matter from the launch point of view. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1217
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 03-20-2015 04:43 PM
What everybody is forgetting, if something happened to the lunar walkers and they were stranded on the moon, the CSM would have to have been flown by one astronaut to get himself back to earth. |
RichieB16
Member Posts: 582
From: Oregon
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 03-20-2015 08:12 PM
I don't think anyone is forgetting that. But, there is no way one person could easily monitor all the controls and reach all the switches when strapped in. Yes, in an absolutely life or death emergency (like if a CMP was coming home from the moon)...one person could probably make it work. But, it makes a lot more sense to have two people onboard. |
Peter downunder
Member Posts: 57
From: Lancefield, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 03-20-2015 08:16 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Apollo-Soyuz:
...the CSM would have to have been flown by one astronaut to get himself back to earth.
I agree. The CMP return to earth was a training sim by necessity. I doubt launching the Apollo with a solo pilot would be part of NASA's preference for redundancy and safety. It was probably viable, but not the preferred way to go. There was room for 5 bodies on the return journey, so why not have an extra trained pilot for the launch. |
OV-105
Member Posts: 820
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 03-20-2015 09:34 PM
I would think that the second crewmember was there for the rendezvous with Skylab. I bet it would be hard for one pilot to do everything for all the burns. |
HistoryDiscussion
unregistered
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posted 03-20-2015 09:57 PM
Thank you member with the name 'Space1' for the welcome.From the answers posted I generally agree with member 'Peter downunder' that it simply was not NASA's preference to fly one man in the Apollo CM even though it could have been done. That makes sense and thank you!
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RobertB
Member Posts: 168
From: Israel
Registered: Nov 2012
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posted 03-21-2015 02:21 PM
Also, a rescue mission might involve more things than just flying the CSM.If, for example, the airlock was jammed then you might need one pilot and someone else to perform a spacewalk. Having two people simply gives you more options and more dynamic capabilities than one person does. |
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