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Author
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Topic: My personal Apollo story (Dan Schaiewitz)
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 04-29-2016 11:56 AM
   
Dan, have you any recent photos so we can see Dan "then and now"? |
mikepf
Member Posts: 441
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 04-29-2016 02:48 PM
Dan, I usually don't have much to add about your posts, but I'd like to let you know that I look forward to seeing what you have to share with us and always read them with great interest. A few posts back you mentioned that antenna repairs were made on the moon with tape. What kind of tape was used in these situations? Duct tape by any chance? My daughter is addicted to the stuff and would be thrilled if it was. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 04-29-2016 08:00 PM
You can tell your daughter that the tape used to repair the broken antennas was in fact duct tape.What may thrill your daughter even more is that if were not for duct tape, Apollo 13 astronauts may not have returned home.  |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 04-30-2016 06:15 PM
And the Apollo 17 rover fender! |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-01-2016 01:11 AM
Frederic Artner and Rick Mulheirn asked if I would post "THEN and NOW" photos of myself. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 05-01-2016 05:39 AM
Thanks Dan. You are wearing well. I only wish my "then" photos featured A7L suits!!!  |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-01-2016 08:42 PM
On several occasions, I was invited to demonstrate the Apollo EMU at various venues. In December of 1972, about a week after the December 7, 1972 liftoff of Apollo 17, I had the privilege of "walking into" a meeting of the Pratt & Whitney Management Club to the surprise of all but the club president (it was planned as a surprise).Just think about that, how would you react to an unexpected visit by an Apollo astronaut. (At least that's what everyone believed until I removed my helmet!)  |
oly
Member Posts: 905
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 05-01-2016 09:02 PM
Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge. If possible could you please write up a description of the suit and PLSS and how you remember your experiences in working and moving while using them? |
MCroft04
Member Posts: 1634
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 05-01-2016 09:09 PM
I grew up about 10 miles from the Pratt and Whitney plant located outside West Palm Beach, Fl. My future father-in-law worked there. I remember many nights waking up in the wee hours of the morning to jet engines screaming in my ears and rattling the windows. Dan, you da man! |
frederic artner
Member Posts: 31
From: Austria
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 05-02-2016 06:43 AM
Dan, thank you for your great "than and now" photo-collage. You are in best shape! |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 05-02-2016 07:08 AM
Wonderful montage Dan. Thank you for sharing your great stories. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-03-2016 01:52 PM
 
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Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-04-2016 04:41 PM
As most of you know, I was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the Apollo Astronauts. A question that I've addressed on numerous occasions is, "were there significant astronaut personality differences and, if so, did the differences affect their competency to carry out mission objectives."
My answer was and still is, "YES, there were significant personality differences and NO, their differences did not affect mission objectives."Following is one of my "first hand" experiences dealing with astronaut personality differences, specifically, Apollo 14 CDR Alan Shepard and Apollo 16 CDR John Young. As you read my observations, keep in mind that both astronauts carried out mission objectives with personality differences having no impact. Alan Shepard was gregarious with a good sense of humor. On the other hand, John Young, if he was outgoing with a sense of humor, did not exhibit those personality traits when I worked with him. In Photo #1 below, I'm standing next to Astronaut Shepard which was usually the case when he unexpectedly paid a visit to the Crew Training Building to witness Crew Training EVA activities. Instead of the intuitive question one would think Al would ask, i.e. "How is training going Dan," he would ask one or both of the following questions, "Will you be at the Hilton this Saturday night?" or "When is your next party?" and continuing with a few "dry sense of humor 'digs.'" It was also apparent to me that he was simultaneously watching and concentrating on the EVA.
On the other hand, as you can see in Photo #2, Astronaut Young is maintaining his distance from me and appears to be focused on nothing else but Crew Training activities. John most always appeared to be serious, with little or no "small talk."  
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mark plas
Member Posts: 385
From: the Netherlands
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-05-2016 02:14 AM
Dan, do you know the reason why Cernan at one point trained in Scott's Apollo 15 flown suit? Looking at the pics in you last post it looks like the suit Cernan is wearing is a fresh one. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-05-2016 02:34 AM
Yes, and as distinct from Scott's training suit. I still scratch my head over that. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 05-05-2016 03:45 AM
Dan, the vast majority of your photos I've never seen before. If you ever plan on publishing them you can put me down for a copy, or two.  I just love all this technical behind the scenes stuff. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-05-2016 08:42 AM
quote:
Originally posted by mark plas:
Cernan at one point trained in Scott's Apollo 15 flown suit
Some EVA training photos of Cernan dated June 8, 1972 seem to show that. |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1047
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 05-05-2016 10:22 PM
But Young and Duke as back crew of Apollo 17 had both moustaches? |
J.L
Member Posts: 674
From: Bloomington, Illinois, USA
Registered: May 2005
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posted 05-05-2016 10:27 PM
They did at that time... |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-05-2016 11:31 PM
Cernan may be wearing Scott's flown suit in the photo J.L posted on his Facebook page a few days ago. |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1047
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 05-06-2016 09:25 AM
Ah,those good sweet old days! This girl is very pretty!! A secretary in JSC I imagine. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-06-2016 10:06 AM
Worked at KSC. Was just a good friend. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-06-2016 02:12 PM
To those cS members that have asked me questions, please do not be offended if I don't answer in a timely manner. I will eventually respond.Thank you all for understanding. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-09-2016 11:30 PM
A cS member recently asked me how I remember my experience working and moving in the Apollo Suit.My responsibilities when "suited up" did not include mobility evaluations. I was strictly focused on EVA procedures and PLSS performance. I can say that required procedures while wearing the suit were consistent with suit design mobility. In the photo below, I was wearing an A7L suit. As many of you know, the A7LB suit was designed with an added waist joint to allow the astronauts to sit relatively comfortably in the Lunar Rover seats. If I had been wearing an A7L-B suit in the photo, I would not have looked like a "beach ball" ready to roll over!  |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1047
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 05-10-2016 10:45 AM
Apart for the waist joint, A7LB suit was generally more comfortable that A7L?Another question, if the program had be continued was expected a model following A7LB? Or the next step was the Litton hard suit? |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-10-2016 08:14 PM
quote:
Originally posted by carmelo:
A7LB suit was generally more comfortable that A7L?
I can't remember any difference. After 45 years the memory begins to fade or should I say, has already faded away!Specific recollections working in the suit were also muddled due to my euphoric state of mind each and every time I was in the suit. Those are memories I'll never forget. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-10-2016 08:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mark plas:
Dan, do you know the reason why Cernan at one point trained in Scott's Apollo 15 flown suit? Looking at the pics in you last post it looks like the suit Cernan is wearing is a fresh one.
Throughout the Apollo program but more intensely towards the end of the program, NASA was challenged with the budget so they looked for ways of cutting costs. One of them was to cut the number of suits International Latex Corp. (ILC) would build. It was cheaper to send a used suit (used for previous backup or training) to ILC for some modifications so other astronauts could use them for training.In the case of Scott's Apollo 15 S/N 315 "flown" suit, it was, in fact, issued to Apollo 17 CDR Cernan as his Training Suit. It is also my understanding that modifications to Scott's 315 suit for Cernan's training were most likely a field modification that consisted of no more than resizing the lacing cords on the legs and arms (not confirmed). The 315 suit was ultimately sent to the Smithsonian. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 05-11-2016 03:23 AM
An interesting juxstaposition of technologies in the latest photo Dan. State of the art Apollo EVA suit and a rusty, beat up old van! Incongruous and fascinating at the same time. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-11-2016 09:55 AM
I have never seen any Apollo 13 training photos that show Lovell and Haise wearing the A7LB-type LEVA helmets they would have worn on the moon. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-11-2016 10:14 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
An interesting juxstaposition of technologies in the latest photo Dan. State of the art Apollo EVA suit and a rusty, beat up old van!
At some point, I will expand on your juxtaposition observation. However, I will focus on the backpacks used for training called Cryopacks vs the flight PLSS's. It will be very enlightening as the assumption is that there was no functional difference between the "highly regulated quality controlled" flight PLSS's and the the non regulated quality controlled training PLSS's that I was responsible for. |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-11-2016 10:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by carmelo:
Another question, if the program had been continued was expected a model following A7LB? Or the next step was the Litton hard suit?
Early on in the program when NASA was "fat" with money and thinking the moon missions would go on until at least Apollo 20, the plan was to switch to what they called the "block III" mission hard suits such as what Litton was developing. This would have been somewhere around Apollo 18 to 20 as it looked around 1966 although there was no firm mission where it would have switched over. That would have been based on the progress of the suit and vehicle development.With respect to thinking just before 18-20 were cancelled, I can only "assume" that the ILC A7LB suit would have been used, perhaps with minor modifications. I can't imagine switching to a Litton type hard suit at that point in time which would mean not only introducing a completely different suit, but more importantly changing manufacturers (ILC to Litton). If ILC had been as far along with hard suit development as Litton, it might have been conceivable that a change could have been made. The problem with that scenario was that despite the fact that ILC was working on a hard suit, they were behind others (Litton, etc.) as they had less resources since most of their focus was on just getting the Apollo A7LB suits "out the door." |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-12-2016 06:04 PM
One of my responsibilities at KSC was to make sure the Crew Training PLSS, OPS and RCU mockups were identical to the flight hardware. This involved keeping track of all changes made to the flight PLSS, OPS and RCU.Each time a change was made to the flight hardware that involved astronaut PLSS, OPS or RCU procedures, inspection, component change briefings, etc., I was responsible for implementing the change to the mockups keeping in mind that the astronauts use of the flight hardware was based on their training with the mockups. Imagine, for instance, if a configuration change was made to the flight hardware and was not implemented in the mockups and subsequently not recognized by the crew on the moon, there might have been disastrous consequences. The below figure is one of my many saved "action item" lists that involved keeping track of and implementing flight hardware changes to mockups. To this day, when I look at "specific" documentation in my own handwriting I get "chills up and down my spine". I still cannot believe how lucky I was to be in the right place at the right time!  |
Alf767
New Member Posts: 5
From: Cape May Courthouse, NJ USA
Registered: Apr 2016
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posted 05-12-2016 06:42 PM
Dan, your posts are absolutely fascinating. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Your Shepard/Young post was great. Any insight as to the McDivitt/Cernan relationship? |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-12-2016 06:58 PM
Thank you your positive comments. I will continue to share my memories for as long as I can and as long as cS members are interested.I don't have any insight into the McDivitt/Cernan relationship. I had no interaction with McDivitt as only his crew mate "Rusty" was involved with the first EVA PLSS test in earth orbit (Apollo 9). |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-14-2016 07:01 AM
Daniel, do you know who/which department handled the Omega Speedmaster wristwatches for the Apollo missions?Any idea why some astronauts (e.g. Apollo VII) wore two of these on the Apollo suit? |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-14-2016 03:01 PM
Unfortunately, I don't have answers to your questions.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-14-2016 07:53 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Daniel on the Moon:
The training PLSSs were always kept at the HSD building at KSC.
Where was the HSD building located at KSC, Dan? |
Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-15-2016 09:54 PM
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Daniel on the Moon
Member Posts: 354
From: Bronxville, NY
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 05-17-2016 12:57 AM
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-17-2016 09:41 AM
This HAER document has photographs and diagrams of that section of the KSC Industrial Area. The aerial photo on page 20 is a good view. |
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