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  Photo of the week 155 (October 20, 2007)

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Author Topic:   Photo of the week 155 (October 20, 2007)
heng44
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From: Netherlands
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posted 10-20-2007 02:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

The Apollo 7 astronauts walk through a "shower tunnel" at the base of Cape Kennedy's launch complex 34 during an emergency egress test in September 1968. Three M-113 armored personnel carriers are waiting out of frame to the right to transport them a safe distance away from the Saturn-1B launch vehicle. The crew also practiced riding part of the slidewire system at the pad, after which they posed for their famous photo with the gantry as backdrop.

Ed Hengeveld

East-Frisian
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From: Germany
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posted 10-20-2007 02:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for East-Frisian     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Like pop stars today. Out of the dark into the light.

lunarrv15
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 10-20-2007 12:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for lunarrv15   Click Here to Email lunarrv15     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Enter with dirty white suit... come out white suit clean. The only human wash ...not your car.

Steven Kaplan
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From: New Jersey
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 10-20-2007 02:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Steven Kaplan   Click Here to Email Steven Kaplan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As usual Ed, another great photo, and one I've never seen. There appears to be some sort of pack hanging around the neck in front of the crew's suits. Can any of our spacesuit experts provide some insight?

lewarren
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From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 10-20-2007 03:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for lewarren   Click Here to Email lewarren     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My guess would be supplemental O2, enough for them to egress the spacecraft and get to a safe zone (rubber room, bunker, M113).

Ben
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From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000

posted 10-20-2007 04:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ben   Click Here to Email Ben     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I didn't know they used the M113s back then. Do you have any photos of astronauts training in them from that era?

Matt T
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From: Chester, Cheshire, UK
Registered: May 2001

posted 10-20-2007 06:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Matt T   Click Here to Email Matt T     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The official name for the chest mounted O2 supply is the Pad Emergency Air Pack (PEAP).

"...a portable package designed to supply breathing air during emergency egress operations at the launch pad. The surface is contoured to accommodate the upper front part of the torso."

heng44
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From: Netherlands
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posted 10-21-2007 03:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ben:
I didn't know they used the M113s back then. Do you have any photos of astronauts training in them from that era?
Ben, I don't think I have any photos, but could make some screenshots of the TV footage I have of this Apollo 7 emergency escape training. You can see each of the astronauts entering an M113.

Also, I believe on the Spacecraft Films set for Apollo 9 is some footage of the crew walking down the stairs of the launch tower and three M113s driving away at the base of the pad.

heng44
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posted 10-21-2007 04:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Found some photos after all, from even earlier:

John Glenn, MA-6.

Gus Grissom and John Young, Gemini-3

heng44
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From: Netherlands
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posted 10-21-2007 04:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Apollo 9 emergency egress training with the PEAP.

divemaster
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From: ridgefield, ct
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posted 10-21-2007 09:11 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for divemaster   Click Here to Email divemaster     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ah! So THAT'S how they caught their colds so close to launch.

Mom always said, never go outside with wet hair.

heng44
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From: Netherlands
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posted 10-21-2007 10:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
J.L. Pickering sent this Apollo 7 photo:

MCroft04
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From: Smithfield, Me, USA
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posted 10-21-2007 10:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MCroft04   Click Here to Email MCroft04     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
These M113's appear to be coated with some type of material that's not familiar to me(and I've seen quite a few M113's). Was this added by NASA for improved safety?

Ben
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From: Cape Canaveral, FL
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posted 10-21-2007 09:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ben   Click Here to Email Ben     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for posting those. I also wondered about the material they are covered in.

art540
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From: Orange, California USA
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posted 10-21-2007 09:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for art540   Click Here to Email art540     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The M113 entered service in 1960 and I believe they were in use for the two manned Mercury-Redstones 1961.

AstronautBrian
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From: Louisiana
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posted 10-21-2007 10:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AstronautBrian   Click Here to Email AstronautBrian     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by MCroft04:
These M113's appear to be coated with some type of material that's not familiar to me (and I've seen quite a few M113's). Was this added by NASA for improved safety?
I noticed that too. It reminds me of woolly mammoth fur. This is just a guess, but it could be fire resistant material, like asbestos.

hlbjr
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From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 10-22-2007 12:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for hlbjr   Click Here to Email hlbjr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was wondering if anyone has a diagram, photo, or other rendering of the slide wire arrangement at Pad 34 and a description of where it actually went?

heng44
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From: Netherlands
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posted 10-23-2007 08:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jim Ragusa is making the first ever manned run of the 360-meter slidewire escape system, that runs from the 65-meter level of the service structure at Pad 34. The system was designed by Chrysler. The test was on August 16, 1968.

hlbjr
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From: Delray Beach Florida USA
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posted 10-23-2007 12:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for hlbjr   Click Here to Email hlbjr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ed, Thanks for the great photos. I see the slide wire headed off to the North/Northeast from the launch tower.

heng44
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From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 10-24-2007 08:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Joel Powell sent this USAF photo dated March 1968 of rescue crews at KSC practicing with the M113.

tegwilym
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From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
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posted 10-24-2007 01:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Kind of reminds me of the fuzzy dog van in "Dumb and Dumber."

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 12-19-2010 12:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by AstronautBrian:
...it could be fire resistant material, like asbestos.

I hope not! 42 years is a fairly average latency period for mesothelioma.

Philip
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From: Brussels, Belgium
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posted 12-20-2010 01:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Why did they walk through a shower tunnel? Anti-bacterial decontamination?

Delta7
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From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 12-20-2010 06:47 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Delta7   Click Here to Email Delta7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My guess would be fuel/chemical decontamination.

Or a Wally Schirra "gotcha!"

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