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Author
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Topic: Ed Smylie, Apollo crew systems chief (1929-2025)
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 54680
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-27-2025 12:50 PM
   
collectSPACE NASA engineer Ed Smylie, who led carbon dioxide fix on Apollo 13, dies at 95It was about one in the morning, four hours after an explosion tore through the Apollo 13 spacecraft on its way to the moon, when Ed Smylie realized they had to do something about the carbon dioxide. What happened next is now storied space history, involving how to fit a square peg into a round hole. Smylie, who was chief of NASA's crew systems division at the time, died on April 21, 2025, at the age of 95. His death came almost 55 years to the day after he and his team figured out how to combine a spacesuit hose, a sock, a plastic bag, cue cards and duct tape to clean the air for astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert during their emergency trip back to Earth.  |
dom
Member Posts: 1131
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 04-27-2025 01:45 PM
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Jupiter24
Member Posts: 21
From: Germany
Registered: Mar 2024
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posted 04-27-2025 01:51 PM
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David C
Member Posts: 1471
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 04-27-2025 02:57 PM
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GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 3186
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-27-2025 03:00 PM
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MartinAir
Member Posts: 448
From:
Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 04-27-2025 03:26 PM
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Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 1258
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 04-27-2025 03:29 PM
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SpaceCadet1983
Member Posts: 539
From: Pacific NW, United States
Registered: May 2012
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posted 04-27-2025 04:13 PM
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mode1charlie
Member Posts: 1498
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 04-27-2025 04:48 PM
Thank you, R.I.P., and ad astra, Mr. Smylie. |
Jeff
Member Posts: 630
From: Fayetteville, NC. USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted 04-27-2025 04:51 PM
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Hangar Cat
New Member Posts: 6
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 04-27-2025 05:32 PM
RIP |
cddfspace
Member Posts: 708
From: Morris County, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-27-2025 05:47 PM
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MCroft04
Member Posts: 1878
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 04-27-2025 05:56 PM
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tedc
Member Posts: 241
From: Renton, WA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 04-27-2025 10:37 PM
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Kite
Member Posts: 1186
From: Northampton UK
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 04-28-2025 05:26 AM
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Kevin T. Randall
Member Posts: 1654
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008
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posted 04-28-2025 05:47 AM
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apolloprojeckt
Member Posts: 1570
From: Arnhem, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 04-28-2025 07:21 AM
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Michael Davis
Member Posts: 580
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 04-28-2025 09:17 AM
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ejectr
Member Posts: 2045
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 04-28-2025 10:07 AM
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Axman
Member Posts: 769
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 04-28-2025 10:20 AM
He has a page in history, which is more than can be said of most of us 7 billion earthlings. |
bthumble
Member Posts: 307
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 04-28-2025 10:48 AM
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davidcwagner
Member Posts: 1140
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 04-28-2025 12:07 PM
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David Carey
Member Posts: 1064
From:
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 04-28-2025 01:26 PM
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rjb1elec
Member Posts: 423
From: Merseyside, England
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 04-28-2025 03:36 PM
A true Steely-eyed missile man. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 5470
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-28-2025 03:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...after he and his team figured out how to combine a spacesuit hose, a sock, a plastic bag, cue cards and duct tape to clean the air
Was not tracking a sock was used to fabricate the work around. How was it incorporated into the endstate solution? |
GT76
Member Posts: 138
From: New Orleans, La. USA
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 04-28-2025 04:52 PM
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 54680
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-28-2025 05:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
Was not tracking a sock...
There was a ventilation hole at the center of the command module scrubber that needed to be plugged. Joe Kerwin told Jack Swigert: The next step is to stop up the bypass hole, which is the hole in the center of the bottom of the canister; we want to stop that up because we don't want to bypass the flow; and I forgot to tell you to get something to stick in that hole. We recommend that you either use a wet wipe, or cut off a piece of sock and stuff it in there, or you could probably even crumble up some tape and use that. Over. For the first "mail box," Swigert used a piece of a towel that was nearby, but the written instructions prepared by Smylie and later crew-prepared scrubbers used crew socks. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1778
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 04-28-2025 05:21 PM
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SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 1410
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 04-28-2025 09:26 PM
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Jake
Member Posts: 487
From: Independence, OR U.S.A.
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 04-29-2025 11:01 AM
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capoetc
Member Posts: 2414
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 04-29-2025 11:07 AM
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gareth89
Member Posts: 744
From: Ireland
Registered: May 2014
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posted 04-29-2025 03:56 PM
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DG27
Member Posts: 275
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2010
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posted 04-29-2025 04:15 PM
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hlbjr
Member Posts: 592
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-03-2025 04:32 AM
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Philip
Member Posts: 6320
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-03-2025 10:23 AM
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dss65
Member Posts: 1399
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 05-06-2025 08:31 PM
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Gilbert
Member Posts: 1532
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 05-14-2025 06:16 PM
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Eddie Bizub
Member Posts: 168
From: Kissimmee, FL USA
Registered: Aug 2010
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posted 06-07-2025 08:43 PM
For those interested in what Ed Smylie's autograph looks like, this Apollo 13 secondary recovery ship cover was signed by Ed Smylie and James Coneale who, per the notation by Ed Smylie, "devised a makeshift adapter for using 'Odyssey' lithium hydroxide cartridges in 'Aquarius.'" This was obtained through the mail by my dad probably shortly after the flight. I would guess that dad sent it to Ed and asked him to have others on the team sign the cover.  |
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