Apollo 13 question

[ai_sci]

<b>Apollo 13 The Movie </b> is on Bravo tonight, and watching it reminded me of a nagging question I have had for some years. <br /><br />In the movie, the astronauts suffered severely from the cooling of the spacecraft(s) due to lack of power. The movie shows them as being attired only in their white NASA flight coveralls. <br /><br />The question is: what was to prevent them from utilizing their ascent environment suits, and in the case of the lunar lander guys, their moon suits, to provide extra insulation and layering to keep them warmer? One step better, donning helmets (with visors mostly open) with the suits would have helped to prevent heat loss through the head. Why was this not done? Just curious,<br /><br />AI Sci<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[qso1]

Good question. One possibility, they may have done it at times but the movie emphasizing drama would not have shown it. Also, Fred Haise was the one who suffered most as he developed a kidney infection as I recall.<br /><br />One reason for not wearing the suits would have been the limited mobility within the cramped confines of both CM and LM. Another would have been that the suits would probably have been worn helmets off and not connected to life support since oxygen and carbon dioxide had to be carefully monitored. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[ai_sci]

Thanks, newsartist!<br /><br />Well, it seems as if both you and qso1 are right:<br /><br />From Apollo Expeditions to the Moon CHAPTER 13.5 <br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>...We were as cold as frogs in a frozen pool, especially Jack Swigert, who got his feet wet and didn't have lunar overshoes. It wasn't simply that the temperature dropped to 38 F: the sight of perspiring walls and wet windows made it seem even colder. We considered putting on our spacesuits, but they would have been bulky and too sweaty. Our teflon-coated inflight coveralls were cold to the touch, and how we longed for some good old thermal underwear. <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />AI Sci <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[tap_sa]

Wasn't there anything suitable, like 'space blankets', in post-landing survival kit?

 

[ai_sci]

Another good question. A google search of "Apollo survival kit" came up with this, but no list of contents:<br /><br />Survival Rucksack<br /><br />I will keep looking. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[j05h]

cool survival gear pix. You could definitely make emergency hats from those rucksacks. Cut each each sack in half the short direction, shred one half (challenge in zeroG) and reverse-fold the halfsack, stuffing each with the shredding. Tie onto head with leftover strapping. You could get 3 hats from the 2 sacks this way. Ugly, but would work. Very Tom Brown. <br /><br />The could have used the sleeves or a layer from the moonsuits, too. Hats are the single most important item of clothing for wilderness survival. <br /><br />Josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[viper101]

You know what always bugs me about Apollo 13?<br /><br />At the beginning they have Walter Cronkite's voiceover saying 'Tonight, a mere 18 months after the apollo 1 fire..the Eagle has landed on the moon...' It was more like 30 months. <br /><br />It's the only flaw I see in an otherwise GREAT movie. <br /><br />Magnificent Desolation is amazing too. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[edkyle98]

Jim Lovell has said that one way they kept warm was to simply hang motionless for extended periods of time. In weightlessness, their body warmth created a thin kind of "bubble" of warm air around their bodies.<br /><br /> - Ed Kyle

 

[jammers]

According to the Apollo 13 Press kit, the contents of the survival rucksacks were:<br /><br />Contents of rucksack No. 1 are: two combination survival lights, one desalter kit, three pair sunglasses, one radio beacon, one spare radio beacon battery and spacecraft connector cable, one knife in sheath, three water containers, and two containers of Sun lotion, two utility knives, <b>three survival blankets</b> and one utility netting.<br /><br />Rucksack No. 2: one three-man life raft with CO2 inflater, one sea anchor, two sea dye markers, three sunbonnets, one mooping lanyard, three manlines and two attach brackets

 

[vogon13]

Mooping lanyard?<br /><br />Otay.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[steve82]

I liked the survival kit Slim Piockens packed in Dr. Strangelove better:<br /><br />"Survival Kit contents check. In them you will find: one 45 caliber<br />automatic, two boxes of ammunition, four days concentrated emergency rations,<br />one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills,<br />sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills, one miniature combination Rooshan phrase<br />book and Bible, one hundred dollars in rubles, one hundred dollars in gold,<br />nine packs of chewing gum, one issue of prophylactics, three lipsticks, three<br />pair of nylon stockings – shoot, a fellah could have a pretty good weekend in<br />Vegas with all that stuff.... "<br />

 

[vogon13]

Living in land locked Iowa, I have precious little experience with anything nautical and had not a clue what was up with 'mooping'.<br /><br />{ the boys on South Park have a band called 'Moop' and I was trying to figure out a tie in to that }<br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

South Park has been such a <i>profound</i> influence on me . . . . .<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>