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Author
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Topic: Time between first steps on lunar surface
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 06-29-2017 09:26 PM
  
Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface about 19 minutes after Neil Armstrong did. The duration between when the commander and the lunar module pilot first stepped onto the moon varied quite a bit on the six lunar landings. Here are the rough numbers I came up with: - Aldrin ... 19:01 after Armstrong
- Bean ... 29:35 after Conrad
- Mitchell ... 5:05 after Shepard
- Irwin ... 7:19 after Scott
- Duke ... 2:30 after Young
- Schmitt ... 5:02 after Cernan
My numbers for EVA-2 and EVA-3 are incomplete. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 06-30-2017 06:56 AM
Very interesting.Do you have times for the interval between the lunar module pilot and commander leaving the lunar surface? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 06-30-2017 08:50 AM
Haven't attempted all those numbers, but I figure Armstrong left the surface about 12:18 after Aldrin.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-01-2017 03:08 AM
It seems that Pete Conrad may have been the only moonwalker to say "mark" when he stepped onto and off the lunar surface.
CONRAD: Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me. I'm going to step off the pad ... MARK. (beginning of EVA-1)CONRAD: Okay. Houston, MARK. I'm on the footpad. (end of EVA-1) CONRAD: Whoops, long step. Okay, Houston - MARK. I'm on the lunar surface. (beginning of EVA-2) CONRAD: Okay. Houston, I guess you can mark me off the lunar surface; I'm on the footpad. (end of EVA-2)
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Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 07-01-2017 08:17 AM
Why such a long wait for Bean to join Conrad on the surface? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-01-2017 08:42 AM
The Apollo 12 flight plan has the LMP egress 30 minutes after the CDR egress. This is what the flight plan has the LMP doing in those 30 minutes:
- ASSIST & MONITOR CDR
- ACTIVATE 16MM SEQ CAMERA
- MONITOR & PHOTO CDR WITH 70MM CAMERA
- PERFORM FINAL LM & EMU CK
- CONFIRM "GO" FOR EVA
- ASSIST CDR WITH ETB TRANSFER
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Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3160
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 07-01-2017 11:11 AM
I have a vivid but rather bitter-sweet memory of watching Conrad and Bean step onto the Moon, live on my school's TV. There were several dozen teachers and pupils clustered around the set watching. I had obtained special dispensation to watch the coverage before going to a double Latin class, but only until "both astronauts had stepped onto the Moon." In the event, Conrad was about 40 minutes late going down the ladder, and I had expected Bean to follow about 10 minutes later. The wait, in both cases, was painful (but obviously worth it!). I then dutifully rushed to the Latin class... just in time to meet the rest of the class leaving. The teacher was not pleased. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-01-2017 05:53 PM
I tweaked a few numbers in the first post to be a bit more accurate. Bean was changed from 29:37 to 29:35 after Conrad. Duke was changed from 2:19 to 2:30 after Young.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-02-2017 07:30 AM
Dave Scott actually stepped onto the lunar surface twice before Jim Irwin did. After walking around on the surface for about six minutes, Scott climbed back up the ladder to assist Irwin who was having difficulty getting out the hatch. The relevant video clip in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal is a good one because it shows Scott going up the ladder with his dirty boots, then both Scott and Irwin coming down the ladder, Irwin with his visor up. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-10-2017 10:44 AM
Fred Haise would have stepped onto the lunar surface about 10 minutes after Jim Lovell, according to the detailed timeline in the Apollo 13 Flight Plan.
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Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 07-11-2017 03:21 PM
I have gotten a few different answers to this question over the years so here goes: What did NASA consider the official time for a lunar EVA? Depress to repress, hatch opening to hatch closing, when the astronaut stepped off the LM back on the LM? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-11-2017 09:04 PM
The "Apollo Program Summary Report" by JSC Houston (1975) has these different definitions for the lunar surface EVA durations shown on page A-7: - The Apollo 11 EVA duration is based on the hatch opening and closing times.
- The Apollo 12 EVA durations are based on the egress and ingress times.
- The Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 EVA durations are based on when the cabin pressure reached 3.0 psi during depressurization and repressurization.
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neo1022
Member Posts: 281
From: Santa Monica, CA
Registered: Jun 2013
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posted 07-12-2017 11:06 AM
How were the Apollo 9 EVAs calculated? I am to recall hatch open to hatch close, but I'm not sure... |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-12-2017 11:30 AM
The Apollo 9 EVA durations shown in the APSR table are based on the 3.0 psi threshold. A footnote in the table on page A-8 mentions Apollo 9 EVA durations based on other events. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 07-12-2017 01:12 PM
Just to note that this is not a new problem. In the 1975 edition of my booklet "Manned Spaceflight," I noted at the foot of a table listing astronauts according to EVA experience that - The above table is not accurate. This is because some times are given in reports as PLSS times, some as hatch to hatch and some as the time actually spent outside the spacecraft. For the record, the table showed Cernan with 24 hours and ten minutes at the top, accumulated on four EVAs. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-13-2017 09:45 AM
The Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 LM crews had a sleep period after landing before they took their first steps on the lunar surface.I figure it was the Apollo 17 LM crew that had the shortest interval (04 hrs 10 min) between the lunar landing and the first steps on the lunar surface. The Apollo 13 Flight Plan has the planned interval at about 4 hours and 33 minutes. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 07-13-2017 11:54 AM
I also am not sure about Apollo 9. I guess the best "Rule of Thumb" would be 3.0 on the repress cycle. But as I say that is just a guess on my part. Good topic, LM-12. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-14-2017 08:35 AM
The lunar landing flight plan timelines have EVA elapsed time markers in the right column. The "START EVA 0:00" marker closely coincides with the cabin depress and the moonwalkers starting their watches. In the Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 timelines, the CDR and LMP start their watches after they DEPRESS CABIN to 3.5 psia. In the Apollo 11 timeline, SET CHRONOMETER is just before DEPRESS CABIN. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 07-17-2017 09:38 AM
From page 2-10 for EVA-1 prep in the Apollo 17 LM Lunar Surface Checklist: - 116:37 CABIN DEPRESS (3 Min)
- 116:40 Start Wrist Watch :00
The next step in the checklist is to re-open the dump valve. This is when the EVA begins, according to the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. |
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