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Author
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Topic: Moon out Apollo CM window on pad: when?
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-03-2016 07:19 AM
  
When was this CM photo taken? It shows a blue sky, the moon and what looks like part of the BPC out the command module hatch window.Was it taken on Apollo 16? In the debrief, Ken Mattingly describes this 'gee whiz' moment in the CM on the pad prior to launch: "On launch morning right out the window was the Moon. That sucker was right-centered in there." If it is a launch day photo, what film magazine is it on? |
randy
Member Posts: 2231
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-03-2016 08:05 AM
In "For all Mankind" it shows the same picture with Ken providing the commentary saying the same thing. |
PeterO
Member Posts: 402
From: North Carolina
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 02-03-2016 09:15 AM
I don't think there's a BPC on the CM in the photo. The outer pane of the hatch window was trapezoidal, which shows in the image. The BPC's window was round. Unless the BPC window diameter was larger than the corner-to-corner dimension of the outer window pane, it should show in the image also. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-03-2016 10:17 AM
The "For All Mankind" imagery looks like a film clip. |
NukeGuy
Member Posts: 55
From: Irvine, CA USA
Registered: May 2014
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posted 02-03-2016 10:57 AM
Assuming that is a waxing moon, it is just past half full. Looks to me as though the sun angle would be too high at any of the Apollo landing sites given that it would take 4 days to get there. I doubt this is a launch day photo. |
Jeff
Member Posts: 483
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 02-03-2016 11:37 AM
From the main menu pick commentary, then pick index and finally choose the topic “idea for the film” you’ll hear director Al Reinert mention that Ken Mattingly told the story of how he saw the moon right out the hatch window on launch day. However, he also goes on to say that this was the only staged photo that was used in the film as all the cameras were stowed. |
One Big Monkey
Member Posts: 171
From: West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 02-03-2016 12:52 PM
The moon was also a waxing crescent at the time of launch (according to Stellarium at least). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-03-2016 01:11 PM
I figure the crew would have been strapped securely into their couches and too busy to take such a photo. |
Jeff
Member Posts: 483
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 02-03-2016 02:07 PM
The director goes on to say that he used a hatch located at the Johnson Space Center and secured the picture on the outside of the window for that shot. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-03-2016 02:16 PM
Might have been the Apollo 17 hatch, then. |
Jeff
Member Posts: 483
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 02-03-2016 02:23 PM
My thought exactly, but wasn't sure if they had any additional hatches in stowage at JSC. Maybe Robert could shed some light on that. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 02-03-2016 07:12 PM
The image in the original post was definitely not taken on Apollo 16's launch day. Referring to the June 1972 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, pages 394-397 (there was an impressive conjunction of Venus and the moon that night) shows the moon to be in a thin crescent phase, about three days passed new moon. |
J.L
Member Posts: 681
From: Bloomington, Illinois, USA
Registered: May 2005
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posted 02-03-2016 10:00 PM
"For Al Mankind" was one of the worst examples of wrong footage mixed with wrong audio ever blended together. Maybe the original plan was a good one, but those of us who know better, and respect visual history have many problems with it. The audio is very interesting as a stand alone feature. This confusion over "hatch footage" is another example of misleading historic imagery. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 02-03-2016 11:25 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
... shows the moon to be in a thin crescent phase, about three days passed new moon
Apollo 16 was launched at 12:54 pm EST, so the Sun and nearby crescent moon would have been almost directly overhead, correct? I wonder if John Young also saw the moon through his smaller BPC window. |
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