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Topic: Ed Smylie, Apollo crew systems chief (1929-2025)
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 54524 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: 1125 From: Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 04-27-2025 01:45 PM
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Jupiter24 Member Posts: 20 From: Germany Registered: Mar 2024
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posted 04-27-2025 01:51 PM
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David C Member Posts: 1469 From: Lausanne Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 04-27-2025 02:57 PM
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GACspaceguy Member Posts: 3177 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-27-2025 03:00 PM
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MartinAir Member Posts: 443 From: Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 04-27-2025 03:26 PM
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Jurg Bolli Member Posts: 1257 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 04-27-2025 03:29 PM
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SpaceCadet1983 Member Posts: 537 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: 1496 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: 629 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: 705 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: 1876 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: 239 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: 1180 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: 1652 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: 2044 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 04-28-2025 10:07 AM
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Axman Member Posts: 744 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: 306 From: Houston, Texas Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 04-28-2025 10:48 AM
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davidcwagner Member Posts: 1133 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: 1063 From: Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 04-28-2025 01:26 PM
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rjb1elec Member Posts: 421 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: 5459 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: 134 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: 54524 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: 1776 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: 1408 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: 2413 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: 737 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: 591 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: 6311 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-03-2025 10:23 AM
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dss65 Member Posts: 1397 From: Sandpoint, ID, USA Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 05-06-2025 08:31 PM
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