so
hello i'm lynn bondurant and this is the
second show of our four-part moonwalk
series today's program is called
adapting to a space environment
as a title suggests this episode shows
procedures apollo operators used in
order to make sure the astronauts would
be able to survive in outer space
this show explains the function of the
different stages of the moon rocket how
the stages separate and what becomes of
them
we pick up the moonwalk story by looking
back at some old classic space films
that were a hollywood perspective on
future space travel
for most people a trip to the planets
was easy all you needed was a 10 cent
movie ticket and a nickel bag of popcorn
charge your speed to one half
what was that i don't know
there's two killer kane's ships coming
up fast behind us
so
oh
here they come you better put a reverse
what science fiction in the childhood of
the space age
could have guessed the shape of reality
the saturn v rocket
three stages
28 stories tall
with 11 engines as powerful as all the
waterfalls in north america
combined years in the planning months in
the building and testing the saturn
first stage lived but two minutes 41
seconds
11 houston thrusters go all engines
you're looking good
all right you're loud and clear
two minutes 41 seconds time to throw
apollo 40 miles up into the sky and then
an empty shell
to fall back into the sea
neil armstrong confirming both the
engine skirt separation and the launch
escape tower separation
gave us a magnificent ride
all right you're 11 we'll pass that on
and it certainly looks like you're well
on your way now
11 houston uh your guidance is converged
you're looking good
downrange 140 miles altitude 62 miles
velocity mission control in houston
texas had taken over from launch control
of cape kennedy for the duration of the
eight day mission
the complicated technology of apollo
saturn
evolved from an ingeniously simple
concept
lunar orbit rendezvous
this requires a rocket made in many
pieces that discards the useless weight
of each piece when its function is
completed the flight began with a
vertical lift through the heavy lower
atmosphere and a tilt to the east at six
thousand miles per hour the empty first
stage is discarded to save weight so is
an adapter ring and the unused escape
tower with the second stage firing it
reaches 15 000 miles per hour when it
too is jettisoned
the third stage places apollo in earth
orbit at 17 400 miles per hour
when the spacecraft has been thoroughly
checked out by the crew the third stage
fires again its speed now tearing it
free from the grip of earth's gravity
while coasting outward the command
service module separates and docks for
access to the lunar module
and the empty third stage is left behind
apollo loses speed throughout nine
tenths of its journey until the moon's
gravity overcomes the pull of earth
apollo fires in reverse direction
slowing down enough to be captured in
orbit about the moon
armstrong and aldrin enter the lunar
module eagle which separates
leaving collins in the command service
module in lunar orbit
eagle slows still more and breaks to a
touchdown on the lunar surface
after the moon walk the upper stage of
the eagle lifts off
leaving behind the now useless landing
stage
and swings into orbit to dock with
columbia once again
when the crew and moon samples are
transferred to the command service
module
the lunar module is discarded
the command service module fires itself
out of lunar orbit and falls back to
earth
as it approaches the re-entry speed of
nearly 25 000 miles per hour the service
module drops away
the command module plunges into the
atmosphere protected by its heat shield
slowed still more by the heavy lower
atmosphere it parachutes into the sea
the command module colombia is all that
remains of the original 3000 tons of
rocket fuel and cargo
apollo 11 this is houston over
while in earth orbit the apollo crew had
less than two hours to check out all
their spacecraft systems
the last chance to discover and correct
any malfunction before the third stage
engine is restarted to break them free
of earth
the translunar injection
we're 10 minutes away from ignition on
translunar injection
apollo 11 this is houston you are go for
tli over
11. thank you
roger out
all alone this is houston
slightly less than one minute to
ignition and everything is go
roger
ignition
we confirm ignition and the thrust is go
follow
guidance looking good velocity 26 000
feet per second
telemetry and radar tracking both solid
velocity 27
800 feet per second
through the window of the command module
the earth gently slipped away
this is houston thrust is good
everything's still looking good
29 000 feet per second building up
toward 30 000 feet per second
apollo 11 this is houston around three
and a half minutes you're still looking
good your predicted cutoff is right on
the nominal
deep space tracking antennas a third of
a world apart
listened to apollo and spoke to apollo
as the earth turned at least one of them
would have contact with apollo at all
times except when it passed behind the
moon
34 000 feet per second now altitude 152
35 000 feet per
second cut off
we're showing velocity 35 570 feet per
second
altitude 177
nautical miles
at three hours 11 minutes into the
mission
distance from earth
3140 nautical miles
the s4b is reported in a stable attitude
for this separation
apollo 11 this is houston uh your goal
for separation
okay
my intent is to use the bottle primary
one is for the checklist therefore i
just turned down all
we're awaiting confirmation of
separation
we confirm the separation here on the
ground
apollo 11 this is houston radio check
over
the goldstone station reports a very
weak signal
we believe that uh mike collins is now
maneuvering with the spacecraft uh
in the transposition and docking
maneuver and the antenna patterns aren't
too good at the moment so we have a weak
signal strength
the command service module separated and
turned around to dock with eagle the
lunar module
houston how do you read
apollo 11 this is houston radio check
over
all right we're copying you about uh
five by two very weak can you give us a
status report please
loud and clear now mike and we
understand that you are a doc that's
fine
apollo 11 houston we recommend you
accept the 949 continue through your
sequence of sightings and then we'll
analyze the data afterwards over
okay
on board was a fourth brain a small
computer called diskey which solved
problems and helped with a long sequence
of systems checks and data exchange with
earth
houston apollo 11 the star 40 has just
disappeared down in the section could be
trunnion angle 47 something a little
high
semi
hello apollo 11 houston uh we'd like you
to press on the star 44 over
yeah
they found their way across the sea of
space
navigating by the same stars that guided
columbus to shores
unknown eleven houston we copied two
good marks over
okay
okay drug removal is coming next
three days falling to the moon
free of the gravity of earth
no up or down
no day or night
a sense of stillness
while traveling at the speed of a meteor
about how long it will be before you
start
closing the limb back up over
an invisible speck in the night
somewhere between here and there
constantly monitored from earth
within this tiny spacecraft a temporary
earth environment
warmth air food water
everything necessary to sustain life
beyond these fragile walls
nothingness
absolute cold
an end to life
the most important function of the
spacecraft life
was also monitored constantly through
telemetry the heartbeat and breathing of
each astronaut
although each breath was 30 000 feet
farther from earth than the breath
before it
should one heart flutter it would at
once be a matter of concern to millions
worlds away
unlike any other place man had traveled
before
space could provide him with nothing
it is a vacuum devoid of every element
needed for life
to send man into this nothingness to
protect him it was first necessary to
define him
what is the human machine
how does it function
what is the nature of its nervous system
its respiration
its circulation
digestion
sight
hearing
balance
its endurance
what gases to breathe should he take
with him from earth
what atmospheric pressure suits him best
is it possible to give him a more
efficient atmosphere for space travel
than nature provides on earth
the moon is 250 degrees hot in sunlight
and 240 degrees below zero in the middle
of its night
how long can a man bake
or freeze
what protection will he need from this
inhuman environment
what strains will the heart take when
the pressure of gravity is removed from
the limbs
what protection will the body need from
sudden deceleration
or acceleration
man's sense of direction speed and
balance are easily fooled
can his mind be trained to ignore false
signals from his senses
so
we were defining the physical man in
absolute terms
once we knew man's limitations we could
build him an artificial environment for
space travel
colombia the command module
was a supreme achievement of the
technology of its age
it was a mini planet
complete with its own environmental
control system
telecommunications electrical power
guidance navigation
stabilization
propulsion
reaction control
it provided hot and cold water
and removed carbon dioxide from the air
three men could live here for more than
a week
eat work sleep shave exercise and listen
to music
it was micro media proof
burn proof and seaworthy and it could
tilt itself in any direction
in short it was the most intricate and
sophisticated machine
ever made by man
as for man however
we're stuck with the original model
all we can do is add an outer layer of
things he does not naturally have
space medicine showed us where man is
vulnerable and we learn to compensate
for most of the weaknesses with
technology and careful workmanship
i
made boxing gloves before i came here
and
the fact is i was an experienced sewer
but i had to learn
all over again because uh
it was completely different from what i
had so before this was getting right
down to a 64th of an inch and where i'd
say before you just sewed on a
production line
and this here is uh
quality more than quantity like we
always think our job is the hardest
whatever we're doing we got the hardest
job but when they say well go there and
maybe do sell himself well you'll find
out that job is harder than yours and
then a lot of times we're sewing
or making things and maybe the girl next
to you she's doing the same thing but we
never see the suit put together one
don't know where the this part goes or
the other one don't know where the other
part goes
like the gloves
if they would give you a glove to sew
you wouldn't know where to start
well when they're up there in space you
know what parts you've worked on and you
just say well i hope that part don't
fail because i feel it was my fault if
it did my sentiment just what hazel said
well i just wondered if my pair of
gloves was what he had on if you make a
mistake then
if you don't admit it you have to think
about the astronaut too
if you make a
uh like a
needle hole in the flat or something
like that well if you don't admit that
that would be on your conscience all the
time seems to me because remember
armstrong all them used to come in
and uh they would look around and see
what we were doing and once while they
talked to us and signed their own we'd
get them to sign their autograph
somehow i'm a real comical
we got a kick out them
we all want to talk to them again
i mean when i'm going down the others
everybody looked down looked down afraid
to talk i was high buddy
oh i'd love to go into space i think
would be really thrilling just to get in
there and just blast dog
i love to go to space and just live
there
every day you get up you come to work
you go home you clean house if we go out
there there's no house no kids no
problem
i like to ride an airplane and i think
i'd like to go into space and i'd like
to wear our own suit that we make i
think i could depend on it
so
after body electrodes have been attached
to monitor heartbeat and breathing the
first items of clothing are the water
cool underwear and a urine collector
a spacesuit is basically a sealed bag of
atmosphere a stiffened balloon
pumped up to counteract the vacuum of
space it might be called a one-man
spaceship of the smallest possible
dimensions
the pressure suit has to guard against
extreme temperatures hard radiation from
the sun and tiny meteorites
yet it must have the flexibility to
allow man to function as he would in his
natural earth environment
so
the backpack cleans and cools the suits
oxygen cools and circulates water
through the water-cooled underwear and
provides radio communication
over the pressure helmet is a clear
visor
then a gold coat advisor to protect
against micro meteors and solar
radiation
the final test was
how would the suit work in the silent
weightless world of space
weightlessness on earth can be
experienced only underwater
or in an airplane following a parabolic
flight path
the only true test was in space itself
so
no up or down
no day or night
only the slow creeping of the harsh
sunlight through the windows
as the spacecraft rotates to keep from
getting too hot on one side too cold on
the other
they carried with them the biological
day of the earthling three meals a snack
or two eight hours of sleep
time to work
time to relax
time to reflect
three days
falling upward
to the moon
now the stage is set for man to venture
onto the moon
the many space simulations prove to be
most effective
now it is time to take the knowledge
gained from these tests out into space
and this is exactly what happens in next
week's program called
one small step
i'm lynne bondurant
you