Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 04-22-2009 03:38 PM               

---

This might be one of those questions that remains unanswered but hey this is cS where answers live. Here goes...

In the movie Marooned the "Skylab" crew went by the call sign Ironman One. Does anyone know if it was ever explained where the name came from?

My first thought is it was taken from the Ironman Triathalon. A feat of strength and endurance. But if you look at the crew's mission patch maybe they took the name from the Marvel Comics character.

Posts: 170
From: Tucson, Arizona
Registered: Jan 2009

Posts: 600
From: Slatington, PA
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 04-22-2009 05:56 PM               

---

Tim, you must be psychic. I remember reading the book, and was thinking about it the other day. I still have the book, I could not put it down. That frozen fuel line still has its images burned in my brain.

I do not know where the name came from, but that book was one of my favorites.

Posts: 1586
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 04-22-2009 11:00 PM               

---

I always thought the name came from the length of the mission. Maybe since it was called Ironman One, the series of missions were called Ironman.

One question -- in the preface, the author says that Schirra read the book and found one flaw, which is never revealed. Any guesses?

Posts: 287
From: Shorewood, MN, USA
Registered: Sep 2004

posted 04-23-2009 08:11 AM               

---

The Ironman did not begin until 1977. Are you all referring to the 1969 film?

Jay Gallentine
(Ironman finisher 1993)

Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 04-23-2009 03:02 PM               

---

Yes Jay - the film. I'm trying to determine the origin of the mission name "Ironman One."

Since as you say the athletic competition known as the Ironman Trialthalon didn't begin until 1977 then that can't be it.

Posts: 339
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 04-23-2009 09:31 PM            

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
...One question -- in the preface, the author says that Schirra read the book and found one flaw, which is never revealed. Any guesses?

---

If I recall correctly, Caidin made that claim about Schirra in the preface to the first "Marooned" book, which was based on the last Mercury flight rescued by the first Gemini and a Vostok.

I've always wondered if that Schirra quote was maybe just another "gotcha" from Wally...

Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 04-27-2009 04:24 PM               

---

I have both Caidin books, and they were the first science fiction I remember reading. During filming of From the Earth to the Moon, the prop guy gave me some ID badges he found for the Mission Control during "Iron Man One". They show a "Iron Man" a robot.

I wonder if the Triathlon came from the movie mission?

Posts: 551
From: Silver Spring, Maryland USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 04-27-2009 04:32 PM            

---

I don't recall that a frozen fuel line was what prevented a retrofire by the SPS engine, thereby leaving astronauts Pruett, Lloyd and Stone marooned. My recollection was that the cause of the engine failure was a mystery that could not be duplicated on the ground during test firings in a 'failure' mode.

As to the a flaw in the story, while I can't speak for Capt. Schirra, I certainly see a major one. The crew of Ironman One had refrained from performing an EVA two days earlier in order to conserve oxygen. When Astronaut Dougherty reaches Earth orbit aboard the modified XRV spacecraft there is less that 55 minutes of oxygen remaining aboard the Apollo spacecraft. Yet Commander Pruett is able to depressurize the spacecraft and attempt a last ditch EVA and still leave enough oxygen onboard to last astronauts Lloyd and Stone the 55 minutes (or slightly less) that they must wait until the Soyuz arrives, followed shortly thereafter by the XRV.

Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005

Posts: 655
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 05-07-2009 12:09 PM               

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by JPSastro:
There was a contest where you could enter a drawing to win one of the spacesuits worn. Always wondered who won...

---

I believe someone in New Jersey won the suit, unless there was more than one suit. I was a regular at Edmunds Scientific Store in Barrington, NJ. It was one of the few places that carried Apollo patches. Apparently the winner donated the suit to the store. I took several photos of it and am currently looking for those images. It was on display for years.

My first reaction was that the suit looked much better on screen. The helmet was cheap plastic, almost like a picnic dish, and the seams were pulled on much of the suit. The last time I saw the suit, it was in terrible condition. They tried to make it look like someone was inside by stuffing it with newspaper and spray painting the visor gold.

The store closed several years ago and had a huge clearance sale but I couldn't find the suit. It probably would have been in my collection if I had.

Posts: 346
From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Registered: Sep 2006

Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 07-01-2009 07:28 PM               

---

Don't mix up the books. The first edition (that Wally commented on) was where he found the problem on either "Mercury Atlas 10" or "Gemini-1" (rescue) and the Russian was "Vostok-10".

The second edition was the movie edition and it was Apollo Applications "Ironman-1" or XRV ("Rescue", experimental re-entry vehicle) and "Soyuz-11".

Sadly remember what really happened to the real Soyuz-11 and her crew!