|
Author
|
Topic: Photo of the week 610 (July 2, 2016)
|
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
|
posted 07-02-2016 03:11 AM
   
 The Mobile Service Structure is pulled back from the Saturn V launch vehicle for Apollo 13 at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, two days before the start of an eventful journey in April 1970. |
Tom
Member Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
|
posted 07-02-2016 07:47 AM
WOW... what a great view! |
Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
|
posted 07-02-2016 08:15 AM
Nice shot! Does anyone know what happens to the Q-Ball atop the Launch Escape System? I know it is pulled off just before launch, but does it fall to the ground and destroyed; or is it pulled over the umbilical tower and reused? |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2121
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
|
posted 07-02-2016 11:31 AM
Great image as always Ed, thanks. I'm surprised to see the RCS isn't covered to stop ingress of rain! |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
|
posted 07-02-2016 12:36 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
Does anyone know what happens to the Q-Ball atop the Launch Escape System?
I think the Q-ball is in the tip of the LES and the yellow thing is just the cover. But you probably meant to say that. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
|
posted 07-02-2016 06:09 PM
Yes, that is what I meant to write. Thanks Ed. |
Wehaveliftoff
Member Posts: 2343
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
|
posted 07-03-2016 04:31 PM
Three rocket views in a row for an acrophobic guy, let's dispense with the fireworks and stay low soon, please. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 07-03-2016 04:44 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Headshot:
Does anyone know what happens to the Q-Ball [cover] atop the Launch Escape System?
As quoted in this thread from Wikipedia: The Q-ball cover was split in half vertically and held together by a 2-inch (51 mm) rubber band. A razor blade was positioned behind the rubber band, pinched between the halves of the cover. A wire rope was connected to the top and bottom of the razor blade and to both halves of the cover. The wire rope was routed through a pulley on the hammerhead crane at the top of the launch umbilical tower (LUT) down to a tube on the right side of the 360-foot (110 m) level of the LUT. The wire rope was connected to a cylindrical weight inside a tube. The weight rested on a lever controlled by a pneumatic solenoid valve. When the valve was actuated from the Launch Control Center (LCC), the pneumatic pressure of 600 PSI GN2 (nitrogen gas) rotated the lever down allowing the weight to drop down the tube. The dropping weight pulled the wire rope, which pulled the blade cutting the rubber band, and the wire rope pulled the halves of the Q-Ball away from the launch vehicle. |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
|
posted 07-04-2016 06:36 AM
Rube Goldberg would be proud. |
capcom
Member Posts: 17
From: staffordshire England
Registered: May 2016
|
posted 07-04-2016 10:35 AM
Nice photograph of the Launch Umbilical Towers Damper Arm extending to LES.
|
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
|
posted 07-04-2016 02:09 PM
This shows the cover being put in place at MSS rollback. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
|
posted 07-05-2016 11:29 AM
Thanks for sharing... Amazing details in those photos! |
apolloguy
New Member Posts: 6
From: Boulder, CO, USA
Registered: Jul 2009
|
posted 07-07-2016 03:04 PM
I was the Q-Ball Cover Retraction Engineer for Apollo 8 through 13. At T-8.9", the yellow styrofoam cover was retracted via a pulley system connected to the Hammerhead crane walkway. It was almost always obliterated, but I was able to recover a small piece of it from Apollo 11 post-launch. They were never reused. As I recall, even the cable was replaced. It was a system that would have made Rube Goldberg green with envy. I understand that on an earlier mission (maybe 501, Apollo 4?), the cover was removed by inflating a bladder which popped it off. I guess this was deemed too complicated. The Wiki description is accurate except for the razor blade description. The two ends of the 3" rubber band were connected under tension with a piece of copper wire which was passed through a cutter mechanism. When the weights on the LUT fell, the wire was cut, the two halves were separated and pulled back toward the crane. |
apolloguy
New Member Posts: 6
From: Boulder, CO, USA
Registered: Jul 2009
|
posted 07-07-2016 05:32 PM
Here are two Q-Ball Cover-related sketches I made, ca. 1969. Fun to look at after all these years.The "test" sketch shows the way we tested the knife blade on the ground. The "rig" sketch shows the set-up on the 360' level of the LUT.  
|
advertisement