Space Rocket History Archive

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Space Rocket History #204 – Apollo 11 – Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin – Part 1 Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

After Buzz graduated from Montclair High School in 1946, he turned down a full scholarship offer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and went to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Episode with pics.

Space Rocket History #203 – Apollo 11 – Command Module Pilot Michael Collins Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

The turning point for Michael Collins in his decision to become an astronaut was the Mercury Atlas 6 flight of John Glenn on February 20, 1962, and the thought of being able to circle the Earth in 90 minutes.

Episode with pics

Space Rocket History #202 – Apollo 11 – Media Coverage & Public Relations Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

Julian Scheer wanted each crew member to spend at least a full day with each of the networks, and wire services, in locations selected by the media.

Homepage

Space Rocket History #201 – Apollo 11 – Mission Planning Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

NASA officials used only 12 words to list the primary objectives of Apollo 11:
1-Perform a manned lunar landing and return.
2-Perform selenological inspection and sampling.

Homepage

Space Rocket History #200 – Luna 15 Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

In February of 1969, the first launch of the Soviet Moon Rocket, the N-1, exploded. By April, the Soviets still did not have a clear program of subsequent piloted Soyuz fights. In May, the Soviets watched the successful US lunar orbital flight and practice landing of Apollo 10. In June, a Lunar Sample return mission failed when the Block D stage refused to ignite. On July 3rd the second N1 launch failed with a spectacular explosion…

Space Rocket History #199 – The Second Test Flight of the Soviet N1 Moon Rocket Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

On July 3, 1969, the same month as the the Apollo 11 Moon landing, The Soviet Union made another secret attempt to fly their giant Moon rocket.

Space Rocket History #198 – Apollo 10 – Snoopy Returns and a Successful Dress Rehearsal Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

“Hey, Apollo – Houston, this is Apollo 10. Look, I know you ran some studies, but by golly, we can see Snoopy, and he isn’t too far away! He’s catching up with us. Can you talk to the FIDOS? He’s right down below us. We can occasionally see him tumbling end-over-end down below there, and he’s coming in closer each pass. That’s Snoopy’s descent stage. We can see him right down below us now, and he’s right – I thought he was a little out-of-plane, but now he’s looking more in-plane with us.” Tom Stafford Apollo 10

SRH Homepage with pictures

Space Rocket History #197 – Apollo 10 – Ascent Stage Rendezvous, Docking & Jettisoning Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

As the lunar module approached, Young saw it through his sextant at a distance of 259 kilometers. Stafford and Cernan got a radar lock on the command module shortly after the insertion burn and watched with interest as the instrument measured the dwindling gap between the vehicles and demonstrated the theories of orbital mechanics in actual practice. Cernan especially liked the steady communications that kept both crews aware of what was happening.

Pics on SRH

Space Rocket History #196 – Apollo 10 – Lunar Module Out of Control Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

The abort system had two basic control modes, “attitude hold” and “automatic.” In automatic, the computer would take over the guidance and start looking for the command module, which was certainly not what the crew intended to do at that moment. While correcting for a minor yaw-rate-gyro disturbance, the astronauts accidentally switched the spacecraft to the automatic mode, resulting in frantic gyrations.

Space Rocket History #195 – Apollo 10 – Lunar Module Testing Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

When Stafford and Cernan were ready for undocking they discovered the Lunar Module had slipped three and a half degrees out of line with the command module at the latching point, possibly due to loose mylar collecting on the docking ring…

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