1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer over 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: at how Stuff Works in a love all things tech, 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: and in our last couple of episodes, I looked at 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: the earliest spacecraft used by the Soviet Union and the 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: United States during the Space Race. I talked about the 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: first people in space, the first spacewalk, and the development 9 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: of spacecraft like the Gemini or Jiminy if you prefer, 10 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: which could hold more than one astronaut at a time. 11 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: We're going to continue today by looking to the successor 12 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: to the Gemini program, that would be the Apollo program. 13 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:50,480 Speaker 1: But before I can do that, I'm going to talk 14 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: a little bit more about Gemini because there's some points 15 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: that I kind of covered at the end of the 16 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: last episode, but I feel we need to go into 17 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: more detailed to understand why they were so warnant. In 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: the next episode, I will actually finish up about the 19 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: Apollo program because it turns out a lot happened during that, 20 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: and then we're going to transition to talk about the 21 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: Soyuz spacecraft that would be the Russian successor in the 22 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: Soviet program, and it's a spacecraft that is still being 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: used today decades later. So we'll get into that in 24 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: the next episode. Now, part of the reason I had 25 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: to cover the whole space race in this way and 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: this kind of jumping around way, is that these various 27 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: projects were not all linear. It's not like Mercury was planned, 28 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: started and ended, and then Jim and I began, and 29 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: then Jim and I went through and ended, and then 30 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: Apollo began. In fact, technically the Apollo mission began before 31 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: GEM and I did. GEM and I ended up being 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: necessary in order to test certain technologies and procedures and 33 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: processes that would make Apollo possible. It was a a 34 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: bridge between en Mercury and Apollo. It was decided after 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: the fact that we had made this commitment that we 36 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: were going to send astronauts to the Moon now. Project 37 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: Mercury's research and development phase started back in nineteen fifty eight, 38 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: and the operational phase didn't begin until nineteen sixty one, 39 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,359 Speaker 1: and the project essentially concluded in nineteen sixty three. Before 40 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: the first Mercury spacecraft had even launched, NASA was already 41 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: talking about what it would take to design, build, and 42 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: launch spacecraft capable of holding three astronauts and sending them 43 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: to the Moon and bringing them back. This hypothetical craft 44 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: would need to be able to do lots of different stuff, 45 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: and it would become the Apollo program. That enormous leap 46 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: would be a huge, huge jump off of the Mercury spacecraft. 47 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: Remember that was a one astronauts spacecraft. It was really 48 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: just designed for orbital flights around the Earth, and it 49 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: was largely a testing ground for technologies and also just 50 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: to to see what we could learn based upon that 51 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: sort of limited use of space travel to go around 52 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: the Earth. Not like that wasn't a difficult enough thing 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 1: to do already, but it was still a small step 54 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: toward what people had eventually planned for the United States 55 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: space program. So the Mercury was a phenomenal achievement. I 56 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: don't want to downplay that. It was amazing that we 57 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: could build a spacecraft that could withstand the rigors of space, 58 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: send someone up there and bring that person back down safely. 59 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: And also there was no need for the astronaut to 60 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: eject from the Mercury capsule. Remember the Soviet cosmonauts on 61 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: the Vostok spacecraft in the Soviet program, they had to 62 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: eject on re entry. They could not just ride the 63 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: vast stalk down to the surface. They would have probably 64 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: been rattled to death if they had done that. But 65 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: the mercury was also extremely limited right it had at 66 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: orbital limitation. It wasn't meant to do anything beyond orbit 67 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: the Earth, and it lacked the capabilities to do the 68 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: stuff the Apollo spacecraft would have to do in order 69 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: to have a successful mission. So that's why the Gemini 70 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: program would slip in between the two. And it also 71 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: provided a training ground for astronauts to learn how to 72 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: endure longer space flights, because that was gonna be an issue. 73 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: If you wanted to go all the way to the 74 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: Moon and back, it was going to take several days, 75 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: not just a few hours or maybe one day of orbit. 76 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: They also learned how to conduct spacewalks, how to navigate 77 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: and pilot a spacecraft in space. That was a big deal, 78 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 1: and also they needed to learn how to rendezvous and 79 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: doc with other spacecraft. Now I mentioned in the previous 80 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: episode that the first mission to have two spacecraft dock 81 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: in orbit was in a Gemini mission. It was Gemini eight, 82 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: which was piloted by Neil Armstrong and David Scott, and 83 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: I also mentioned that there was an emergency in that 84 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: particular mission and where after the two spacecraft had docked 85 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: there was a problem. But I wanted to talk a 86 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: little bit more about the actual docking process, just to 87 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: kind of give across how complicated this is and how 88 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: much precision is required to make it work. So the 89 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: Gemini spacecraft docked with a vehicle that existed only for 90 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: the purpose of testing the docking technology and the procedures. 91 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: It was called an a Gina Target vehicle, and the 92 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: official designation was g A t V five zero zero 93 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: three for for the Gemini eight. This spacecraft was seven 94 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: point nine three ms long that's about twenty six ft, 95 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: and had a diameter of one point five two ms 96 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: or just a hair under five feet in diameter, and 97 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: had its own flight control electronics at its own guidance systems, 98 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: propulsion system, electrical power. All of this was necessary so 99 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: NASA can make certain the spacecraft was in the proper 100 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: orbit and orientation for a rendezvous and docking mission. On 101 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: one end of this target vehicle there was a cone 102 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,159 Speaker 1: shaped section, so this was the part where the Gemini 103 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,679 Speaker 1: spacecraft would dock into. It's kind of a a cone 104 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: area and it conformed to the shape of the nose 105 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: of the Gemini spacecraft. So you bring the Gemini spacecraft 106 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: in nose first, and it would dock into this cone 107 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: shaped section of the target vehicle. And then once you're 108 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: in place, docking latches would close to secure the two 109 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: spacecraft together. The target vehicle could then engage its propulsion 110 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: systems after it docked, and that would mean that NASA 111 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:45,559 Speaker 1: back on ground could change the orbit of the pair 112 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: of docked spacecraft using the target vehicle's engines. So imagine 113 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: for a moment how monumentally challenging this is to do. 114 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,119 Speaker 1: And this is going to require us to talk about 115 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: some math. Now, it's pretty simple math when you get 116 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: down to it. The formula is not terribly complicated, but 117 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: it is mass that has to do with some pretty 118 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: wicked numbers. First, the two spacecraft are in orbit around 119 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: the Earth. So to stay in orbit, to to get 120 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: into an orbit around a celestial body, that satellite, that 121 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: spacecraft has to maintain orbital velocity. This is the velocity 122 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: required to keep a steady orbit at a specific distance 123 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: away from a celestial body and that amount that that's 124 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: that velocity, that speed if you prefer which is less precise, 125 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: but we'll go with speed. It's very common term. The 126 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: speed depends upon the mass of the body you're orbiting, 127 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: so in this case it would be the Earth uh. 128 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: And also the radius that or the distance between you 129 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: and the center of that mass. There's also a gravitational 130 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: constant that you have to factor into this, that's universal. 131 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: The universal gravitational constant is the same number wherever you are. UH. 132 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: In case you're curious, the universal constant gravitational constant is 133 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: six point six seven three times ten to the power 134 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: of negative eleven Newton meter squared per kilogram squared. And 135 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: that number is what you would multiply by the mass 136 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: of the body you're orbiting, so the mass of the Earth. 137 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: Then you would divide that product. You know, you multiply 138 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: those two numbers together, you get a product. You divide 139 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: that by the distance between you and the center of 140 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: the Earth. Then once you take that solution, you would 141 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: take the square root of that and that would give 142 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: you your orbital velocity, how fast you need to go 143 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 1: in order to maintain your orbit. So if you were 144 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: trying to orbit the Earth at four kilometers above the surface, 145 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: how fast would you need to go? What would your 146 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: orbital speed need to be so that you would maintain 147 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:09,719 Speaker 1: that orbital distance from the Earth. Well, the Earth has 148 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: a mass of five point nine eight times ten to 149 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: the twenty four power rams and the gravitational constant, as 150 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, is that six point six seven three 151 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: times ten to the power of minus eleven. So if 152 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: we multiply both of those together, that gives us the 153 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: product of three point nine nine zero four five four 154 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 1: times ten to the four power. That's our product. Okay, 155 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: so that's the top of our fraction. Right, let's talk 156 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: about distance. That's the bottom of our fraction. The Earth's 157 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: radius is six thousand, three kilometers and your four hundred 158 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: kilometers higher than that because you're four kilometers above the surface. 159 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 1: So you have to take both of those numbers and 160 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,559 Speaker 1: add them together. Let's also convert it to meters. It 161 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: will make life easier for us in the long run. 162 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,359 Speaker 1: That would give us six million, seven hundred eighty thousand meters. 163 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: That's the distance between you and the center of the Earth. 164 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: So that's the bottom of our fraction. We divide our 165 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: earlier product by this number six million, seven hundred eighty thousand. 166 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: That gives us the very easy to describe number fifty 167 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: eight million, eight hundred fifty six thousand, two hundred fifty 168 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: three point six eight seven three. So that's our our 169 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: answer there. Then we have to take the square root 170 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: of that. Taking the square root of that will give 171 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: us our velocity. If you take the square root and 172 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: then you have to round up a little bit, it 173 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: is approximately seven thousand, six hundred seventy two meters per second, 174 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:43,440 Speaker 1: So that's the speed you have to maintain to stay 175 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: in orbit. That's about four point seven seven miles per second, 176 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: or seventeen thousand, one hundred seventy two miles per hour. 177 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: So you've got these two spacecraft traveling at four hundred 178 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: kilometers above the surface of the Earth. They're traveling at 179 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: seventeen thousand, one seventy two miles per hour each. Then 180 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: you want the two of them to meet up in 181 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: space and dock with one another, which is terrifying. Right. Also, 182 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: because you're in space, you're in an environment where if 183 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: you damage your spacecraft it was it's gonna lead to 184 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: catastrophic decompression. And you're going to have a really bad 185 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: time of it. You can't afford to make any mistakes. 186 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: You have to have this be very, very precise. The 187 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: equation also tells us by the way that the closer 188 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: you are to the Earth, the faster you have to 189 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: travel in order to maintain orbital velocity. That also means 190 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: that you'll make several full orbits around the Earth within 191 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: a single Earth day. You're actually you're going around the 192 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: Earth faster than the Earth's rotation. But the further out 193 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: you go, the less velocity you need to maintain your orbit. 194 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: So if you're pretty far out there, and we're talking 195 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: miles above the Earth, your orbital speed only needs to 196 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: be about six thousand eighty miles per hour, significantly less 197 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: than that seventeen thousand I was talking about earlier. If 198 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: it's at that speed, you will make one full orbit 199 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: of the Earth every twenty four hours, which means that 200 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: if you are located above the equator, you'll essentially be 201 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: in a locked position relative to the Earth. You will 202 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: stay above that that point on the Earth, and you 203 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,319 Speaker 1: will maintain your position relative to the Earth because the 204 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: Earth and you are traveling at a way where the 205 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: Earth's rotation and your orbit are staying in alignment the 206 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: entire time. That's where you get into that geo stationary orbit. 207 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: If you have a satellite geo stationary orbit, it is 208 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 1: at this very high orbit and it's essentially somewhere near 209 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: the equator, so it can maintain its relative position above 210 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: the Earth. By the way, you need that velocity to 211 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: be right, because if you go slower than orbital velocity, 212 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: your orbit will gradually decay and you will get drawn 213 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 1: towards the planet, which will ultimately mean re entering the 214 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: Art's atmosphere and landing or burning up. If you're going 215 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: faster than orbital velocity, you will gradually move further out 216 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: from the planet, assuming that you are capable of keeping 217 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: that that speed, and if you're going fast enough, you'll 218 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: attain escape velocity from the planet's gravitational pull and you'll 219 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: just go off into space somewhere. Now, the reason I 220 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 1: even cover this so thoroughly is that the Apollo missions 221 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: and the soil Use spacecraft both have docking capabilities. In fact, 222 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: for Apollo's lunar missions, docking was absolutely necessary, as it 223 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: was how the lunar landing module was able to rendezvous 224 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: and reconnect with the rest of the spacecraft, which would 225 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 1: remain in lunar orbit. Now, when I come back, i'll 226 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: talk more about the Apollo program and the amazing achievement 227 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: of putting astronauts on the Moon. But first let's take 228 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: a quick break and thank our sponsor. The Apollo spacecraft, 229 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: when you're looking at the actual lunar missions, was essentially 230 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: a three part craft. Only one of those parts, called 231 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: the Command module, was designed to land back on Earth 232 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: in a retrievable fashion. The three parts were the Command 233 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: module that was the section with all the flight controls. 234 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: That's where the crew would sit during takeoff and normal 235 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: operations and landing. Then there was the Service module. This 236 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: was kind of like the the big container that had 237 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: all the propulsion systems and spacecraft support systems, had an 238 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: engine on it for firing. Those two parts of the 239 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: spacecraft would remain together for most of the mission, and 240 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: the third segment was the lunar module, which would have 241 00:14:54,880 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: to dock with the Command Service Module or cs UM. 242 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: They would often group these two modules together and just 243 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: call them CSM. The lunar module would have to dock 244 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: with CSM in space, then separate once it was in 245 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: lunar orbit land on the Moon, lift off from the Moon, 246 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: rendezvous with the CSM REDOC, and then the astronauts would 247 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: move back over to the c s M, whereupon they 248 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: would jettison the lunar module and travel back home. Thus, 249 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: that's why that's why the Gemini docking procedure was so important. 250 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: It was sort of a proof that this strategy was 251 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: going to work because the strategy of getting astronauts on 252 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: and off the Moon depended upon that capability. The Command 253 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: Service Module UH would pretty much stay connected up until 254 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: you get to where it was time to re enter 255 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: the r atmosphere, whereupon the command module would jettison the 256 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: service module and it would just become that sort of 257 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: cone shaped spacecraft that we're all familiar with. The heat 258 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: shield was on the bottom of that section, and that's 259 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: what would point toward the Earth while the spacecraft would 260 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: reenter Ther's atmosphere. Now, the three modules attached to an 261 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: upper stage of a rocket in a special housing. The 262 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: stage was called the S four B. The CSM would 263 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: separate from this special casing that was attached to the 264 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: S four B, and the lunar module would still be 265 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: inside that casing, which then would kind of have the 266 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: walls flange outward. People referred to it as looking like 267 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: an angry alligator, although it was an angry alligator with 268 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: four jaws, not too which is really terrifying. And then 269 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: the CSM, the Command Service module, could dock with a 270 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: lunar module which would then detach from the S four B, 271 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: and then you would have your Apollos spacecraft that could 272 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: continue on toward the Moon, whereas the S four B 273 00:16:53,840 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: would then inject itself into a trajectory, either a solar 274 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: trajectory for the early missions or later on a lunar 275 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: trajectory where the Annassa was really testing impact spacecraft impact 276 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: with the Moon. They had a lot of UH sensors 277 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: aboard the S four B that would give them data 278 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: about impacting it with the Moon. They just made sure 279 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: that obviously that the S four B was going to 280 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: hit a part of the Moon that was nowhere close 281 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 1: to where the astronauts were going to be. Before there 282 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: were any astronauts in any Apollo spacecraft, NASA held a 283 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: series of unscrewed missions. They were called the Apollo Saturn 284 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: uncrewed missions. The first three of these carried a designation 285 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: that began with a S. So the first of those 286 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: was the A S two oh one, the second was 287 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: called A S two o two, and the third a 288 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: S two oh three, although I should point out A 289 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: S two oh three launched before a S two oh two. Uh, 290 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 1: they were close together in launch, but two or three 291 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: technically went up first. They also were meant to test 292 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: different things. It wasn't like NASA was just repeating the 293 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 1: same test over and over. Each test had its own 294 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: mission objectives. They were designed to test the operation of 295 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: the launch vehicles and make sure that they could launch 296 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: the load of an Apollo spacecraft into orbit. You know, 297 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: make sure that the thing you have, the rocket you 298 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: have built, can actually carry the payloads safely up into space. 299 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: That's a big deal. And in an upcoming episode, I'm 300 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: going to focus more on rockets and launch vehicles and 301 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: talk about the science and technology behind those, So we'll 302 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: save all of that discussion for later. The mission objective 303 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: for the first of these, the A S two oh one, 304 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: is described by NASA like this. This is a quote 305 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: from their website. Achieved structural integrity and compatibility of launch 306 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: vehicle as well as launch loads demonstrated separation of first 307 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: and second stages of Saturn l e S and boost 308 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: protective cover from the Command and Service Module or CSM. 309 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: Demonstrated separation of CSM from Instrument Unit, spacecraft and Lunar 310 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: Module adapter, as well as CM separation from the s M. 311 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 1: Verified operations of Saturn propulsion guidance and control and electrical 312 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: subsystems partially achieved verification of spacecraft subsystems and heat shield 313 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: for re entry from Low Earth orbit due to loss 314 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: of data during maximum heating. Demonstrated operation of mission support facilities. 315 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: So what does that mean, Well, it meant that they 316 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 1: were testing the launch vehicle making sure that the rocket 317 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: was separating properly in order to get the spacecraft into space. 318 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: So the rocket had several sections and each section needed 319 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: to separate cleanly from the others in order for this 320 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: process to work. They also made sure that the command 321 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: module and the service module would separate properly because the 322 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: command module had to be on its own in order 323 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: for re entry that happened safely. And then they were 324 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: testing out some of the spacecraft subsystems. But as they 325 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: mentioned in the mission over objective and mission Briefing, UH 326 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: This did not go without a hitch. There was a 327 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: loss of some data due to heating, so they didn't 328 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: It's it's not necessarily the case that the systems didn't work, 329 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: but we didn't have the data to know one way 330 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: or the other because of this heating issue. AS two 331 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: A one launched on February nineteen sixty six, and it 332 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,399 Speaker 1: was a short mission. It lasted only thirty seven minutes 333 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: from liftoff to touchdown. The mission had several technical malfunctions, 334 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: including three serious ones, which is why engineers do unmanned 335 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: tests in the first place, to identify and solve those 336 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,639 Speaker 1: problems before human lives are ever at stake. This was 337 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 1: a suborbital mission. It did not go into orbit. It 338 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: went up to a very high altitude, but it was 339 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: a sub orbital test. The following mission, on August nineteen 340 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,439 Speaker 1: sixty six, this is a S two oh two, was 341 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: the first to test the fuel cell power system that 342 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: would power the spacecraft. Now I've talked about fuel cells 343 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: in other episodes. I've got another episode I have planned 344 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: where I'm going to talk more about fuel cells, so 345 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:20,760 Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into it here. It's a 346 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: really interesting technology, but we'll cover it more in a 347 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: future episode, and if you really want to learn more, 348 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: you can look at the tech Stuff archives and find 349 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,879 Speaker 1: an old episode where we talk about fuel cells. Like 350 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 1: the a S two oh one mission, the two oh 351 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: two was also suborbital. This one lasted ninety three minutes 352 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: from liftoff to touchdown, and it proved the design of 353 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: the heat shield for the spacecraft worked as was intended. 354 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: The two oh three unmanned mission, the one that took 355 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: place in between two oh one and two or three, 356 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: was actually an orbital mission. It went all the way 357 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: up into orbit. So you might say, well, why is 358 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: this one designated two oh three when one it happened 359 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: before to oh two, and why did it go into 360 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: orbit when two o two didn't. Well, two oh three 361 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: did not carry a command module or a service module 362 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: or a lunar module. The main purpose of two oh 363 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: three was to test the propulsion system that would boost 364 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: an Apollo spacecraft from Earth orbit to insert it into 365 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: a learned lunar orbit. So the S four B was 366 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: a very important component here, but the actual spacecraft was 367 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 1: not included in this. And now to get to what 368 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: was originally designated as a S two oh four. This 369 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: is one of the tragedies of the U S space program. 370 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 1: There have been a few, and this was a pretty 371 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: This was a terrible one. It wasn't a pretty bad one. 372 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: This was a terrible one. It happened on January nine. 373 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: This was supposed to be the first manned mission on 374 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: an Apollo spacecraft, and it was intended to be a 375 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: suborbital flight, so it wasn't meant to go into Earth orbit. 376 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: It was meant to go up to space and come 377 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: right back down again. I was supposed to test Apollos 378 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: systems with actual human beings aboard, and the astronauts aboard 379 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: were Virgil Grisom, he had been one of the original 380 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: Mercury seven astronauts, Edward White, who was the first American 381 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,919 Speaker 1: to walk in space during the Gemini four mission, and 382 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 1: Roger Chaffee, who had served on the ground on various missions, 383 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: but this was his first chance to fly in a 384 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: mission as an astronaut. They were inside the command module 385 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 1: when during a pre flight test, a fire swept through 386 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: the module and all three astronauts lost their lives. This 387 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: was a terrible tragedy. NASA immediately started an investigation into 388 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,199 Speaker 1: the accident and suspended all crude missions for more than 389 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: a year. As a result, they did continue working on 390 00:23:55,280 --> 00:24:00,440 Speaker 1: uncrude tests, testing the lunar module, in particular, by they 391 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: were absolutely concerned. They wanted to make absolutely certain that 392 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: they eliminated the possibility as best they could of such 393 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: an accident happening again, and it was a terrible loss. 394 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: Later in nineteen sixty seven, Dr. Georgie Muller, who was 395 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:21,640 Speaker 1: the Associate Administrator for Manned space Flight at NASA, announced 396 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,880 Speaker 1: that the mission was retroactively going to be named the 397 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: Apollo one, so it's no longer a S two O four. 398 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: It was Apollo one. The next unscrewed mission was Apollo four, 399 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 1: and that happened on November nine, nineteen sixty seven. Also 400 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 1: at this time, I think it's interesting to point out 401 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: there were no missions that ever received the designation Apollo 402 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 1: two or Apollo three, so there's no Apolo to No 403 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: Apollo three went from Apollo one to Apollo four, and 404 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:54,400 Speaker 1: Apollo four carried an unscrewed Apollo spacecraft, so no astronauts 405 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: were aboard. This was an orbital test that lasted about 406 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: nine and a half hours. The spacecraft enter a translunar 407 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: trajectory before returning to Earth. Apollo five was another unscrewed mission. 408 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,159 Speaker 1: This one carried a lunar module as a payload, so 409 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: it was to test the module's propulsion systems in space. 410 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: Apollo six carried a command and Service module as well 411 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: as a Lunar Module Test Article or l t A. 412 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: So on casual glance, this looked like the lunar modules 413 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 1: that astronauts would later use to go to the Moon's surface, 414 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 1: but instead of carrying all the life support systems and 415 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 1: the related systems that the astronauts would absolutely need, the 416 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: test article carried systems that were measuring the dynamic behavior 417 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: of the module during launch to make sure it would 418 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: hold together. That this design of the lunar module could 419 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: withstand the stress that would be put upon it in 420 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: a launch vehicle, so they were verifying that the design 421 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: was up to the task. Apollo six launched on April 422 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: four nine. Now the next mission would again include astronauts 423 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: in the actual command module is the first crude mission 424 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: after Apollo one. It was called Apolo seven, and the 425 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 1: crew consisted of Walter Skira Jr. H Are, Walter Cunningham, 426 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: and Don F. Eisel. The launch took place on October eleventh, nineteen. 427 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: The payload was a Command Service module. There was no 428 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:27,640 Speaker 1: lunar module in this particular test. This mission, the crew 429 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: tested the systems aboard the CSM, including going through the 430 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: maneuvers that would be necessary for docking with the lunar 431 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: module on future missions. So there was no lunar module 432 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: to dock with, but they went through the actual steps 433 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: to make certain that the craft could actually maneuver the 434 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: way they intended, and everything worked the way it was 435 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: meant to. The fuel cell power system worked well. There 436 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,680 Speaker 1: were occasional issues with overheating, but the crew was able 437 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,439 Speaker 1: to solve that by distributing the electric load across the 438 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: cells so that no one cell was overworked. The only 439 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: other minor issue was these spacecraft's coolant lines sweated a bit, 440 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,199 Speaker 1: so water would collect inside the command module, but the 441 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: crew used a vacuum to suck up that water and 442 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: they ejected it out into space along with their p 443 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,880 Speaker 1: More on that in a second. The a C also 444 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,200 Speaker 1: stopped working briefly, but the crew was able to manually 445 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: reset the a C bus breakers to restore service, so 446 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: that wasn't a big deal. But one thing that proved 447 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: to be a little unpleasant. It's time to talk about poop. 448 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: It was all about the waste disposal system, which is 449 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: a very elevated way to describe what they had to do. 450 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,199 Speaker 1: So we're gonna talk about pooping, guys, the astronauts. One 451 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: of the biggest questions, by the way, the how stuff 452 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,439 Speaker 1: works would get. One of the most frequently asked questions 453 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: how stuff works would get was how does going to 454 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: the bathroom in space work? Well, if you were an 455 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: Apollo astronaut and you needed to go and make a tuozy, 456 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: this is how it worked. So they had to poop 457 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: into back EAGs. Yep, they had poop bags. The bags 458 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: had a lining of germicide that was there to help 459 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: prevent bacteria from multiplying and spreading. Uh. They were bags 460 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: that were supposed to be easily sealed, and from what 461 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: I understand, they were easily sealed. And then the crew 462 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:22,160 Speaker 1: was to store the used bags in empty food containers. 463 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 1: So if you're going rummaging for a snack, you could 464 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 1: have a nasty surprise if you didn't keep track of them. 465 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 1: But uh, it was apparently something of a flexibility challenge 466 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,000 Speaker 1: to use them properly because you had to maneuver out 467 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 1: of your pressure suit in order to do this, and 468 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: also it got a little stinky, and according to NASA, 469 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: it took between forty five minutes to an hour to 470 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: use one of the darned things because of getting out 471 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: of that pressure suit and getting the coveralls adjusted in 472 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: such a way where you could hold the bag in 473 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: the appropriate position and do your business. And that meant 474 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: that because it took so long, up to an hour 475 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 1: just to do this, it meant that you essentially had 476 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: to hold it until there was a good long stretch 477 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: of time where you didn't have any mission requirements, you 478 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 1: didn't have anything you had to do that was related 479 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: to the actual mission, and the mission was a long one. 480 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: This particular test, it lasted eleven days or nearly eleven days, 481 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: so on eleven day long mission with three astronauts and 482 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: close quarters, and this is the process you have to 483 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: go through. You might be asking yourself, if you're morbidly curious, 484 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: how much did they have to poop? NASA recorded it. 485 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: NASA recorded twelve defecations. So imagine working at a job 486 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: where not only are your restroom breaks logged, but your 487 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: boss has taken an unusual interest in the product of 488 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: said restroom break. Space travel sure is glamorous. The p 489 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: by the way, was ejected along with that puddled water 490 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: that I mentioned earlier. They didn't have to remove any 491 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: clothing to do this. They could just pee in their suits. 492 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:13,760 Speaker 1: They had a urine collection service, something that NASA did 493 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: not go into further detail about, but I think we 494 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: can all come up with various hypotheses of what that meant. Anyway, 495 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 1: it was in such a way that the urine was 496 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: actually collected so it could be vented out into space. 497 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: They weren't just, you know, wearing diapers. All three astronauts 498 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: caught a cold during the course of the mission, which 499 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: was incredibly unpleasant. Mucus accumulated and filled up their nasal passages. Man, 500 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: I'm making space travel sounds sexy, right, So it made 501 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: it real hard to breathe up. Their Tor's just shaking 502 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: her head and looking at me. She's like, I can't 503 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:52,840 Speaker 1: believe And only do I have to listen to you 504 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 1: talk about pooping and mucus. I'm gonna have to listen 505 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: to it again when I edit this show. Sorry, Terry, 506 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: I'll buy you a coke. Anyway, the astronauts found that 507 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:05,960 Speaker 1: the only thing that could really clear their noses was 508 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: if they gave their honkers a real good hard blow, 509 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: but that would cause pressure to build up in their ears, 510 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 1: and it hurt their ear drums to blow their noses, 511 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: so it was a very unpleasant experience. NASA, by the way, 512 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: would refer to the crew morale on this mission as 513 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: and I quote grumpy. I'm not surprised if you told 514 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: me to poop in a bag for eleven days and 515 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: then you gave me a cold, I'd be grumpy too, 516 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: And I'm not even in space. That's just not cool. 517 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,120 Speaker 1: Tari is even talking to me, but I can't hear 518 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: her because she's on the other side of the glass. 519 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 1: But she's got things to say about this too. I 520 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: imagine a Polo seven ended up having a safe splash 521 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: down on October twenty nine. Now, I know I said 522 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: eleven days, but technically, if you were to look at 523 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: the full time between liftoff and splash down, it was 524 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,080 Speaker 1: ten days, twenty hours, nine into three seconds. So I'm 525 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: rounding up to get to those eleven days. But more importantly, 526 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: it's set the stage for Apollo eight I'll tell you 527 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: what Apollo eight was all about in just a second, 528 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: but first let's take another quick break to thank our sponsors. 529 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 1: Apollo eight would take a crew further than any human 530 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: had gone before. The mission would include a trip around 531 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: the backside of the Moon and back that involved a 532 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:37,040 Speaker 1: maneuver called the trans lunar injection, in which the spacecraft 533 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,239 Speaker 1: would move out of Earth orbit and travel into an 534 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: orbit around the Moon before going for a trans Earth 535 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: injection and essentially reversing this process. It's actually more complicated 536 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,840 Speaker 1: than reversing the process but coming back to Earth. Astronauts 537 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr. And William Anders were selected 538 00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: as the crew of the Apollo eight. The trip to 539 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: the Moon required two mid course corrections, the first at 540 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: nearly eleven hours into the mission and the second at 541 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 1: sixty one hours eight minutes in the mission, so more 542 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: than two days. Almost three days into the mission, the 543 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: Apollo eight spacecraft spent twenty hours in lunar orbit, and 544 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 1: it went around the Moon ten times before using the 545 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: spacecraft's propulsion systems for a trans Earth injection and a 546 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: return trip to Earth. Whenever the spacecraft passed on the 547 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: far side of the moon, radio communication would end. Because 548 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: the Moon's big, it blocked all the radio signals, so 549 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: we would lose communication with the astronauts whenever they went 550 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: around the far side of the moon. By the way, 551 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: I know all of you know this, but I feel 552 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: like I should remind folks that the far side of 553 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: the Moon is what we call the face of the 554 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: Moon that is away from the Earth. The Moon is 555 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,280 Speaker 1: tidally locked with the Earth, so the same side of 556 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: the Moon always faces us. We never see the other 557 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 1: side from Earth. There is, not, however, a dark side 558 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: of the Moon, or rather, there's not a permanent dark 559 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: side of the Moon. There is a side of the 560 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: Moon that's dark, but it's not the same side all 561 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,239 Speaker 1: the time. All sides of the Moon receive light at 562 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,919 Speaker 1: one time or another, but there is a permanent far 563 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: side of the Moon. Sometimes it's dark, sometimes it's lit up, 564 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:26,240 Speaker 1: but it always faces away from us. The astronauts aboard 565 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: the Apollo eight were the first to see that side 566 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:33,320 Speaker 1: of the Moon firsthand. It's pocked with craters from various 567 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:38,480 Speaker 1: impacts that it blocked from colliding with the Earth potentially, 568 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,799 Speaker 1: which is kind of cool, but otherwise it's you know 569 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,520 Speaker 1: it's the Moon. I'm sure it's really cool to see 570 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 1: of close. I'll never get a chance to see it 571 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,040 Speaker 1: like that, but you know, it's the Moon. The launch 572 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 1: vehicle took off on December one, nine, and the command 573 00:34:54,760 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 1: module splashed down on December, so they spent Christmas up 574 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: in space. There was no lunar module attached on Apollo eight, 575 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 1: it was just the command and service modules that went up. 576 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: Apollo nine would include a lunar module, but it did 577 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 1: not touch down on the Moon instead. The purpose of 578 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: this mission was to test the rendezvous and docking procedures 579 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 1: between the command Service module and the lunar module. These 580 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 1: would all be necessary maneuvers during a mission to the 581 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,440 Speaker 1: Moon itself. The mission included a simulation of a lunar 582 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: module rescue mission and the event of a lunar module 583 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 1: losing its ability to maneuver in space, so the Command 584 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: and Service module would have to do all the work 585 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:42,120 Speaker 1: in order to orient itself properly and dock with a 586 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,479 Speaker 1: lunar module. This was just in case there might be 587 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,759 Speaker 1: an incident where a lunar module is able to ascend 588 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,400 Speaker 1: from the Moon but then loses its ability to maneuver, 589 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: and it would have mean that the pilot of the 590 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,400 Speaker 1: Command Service module would have to go on a rescue 591 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: mission during this and the command module and lunar module 592 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,320 Speaker 1: docked without incident, and the crew was able to transfer 593 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 1: from the command module over into the lunar module. And 594 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,720 Speaker 1: remember there that kind of head to head. That's something 595 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 1: I didn't realize until I was probably a teenager. At 596 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,880 Speaker 1: that time. I just assumed that the lunar module was 597 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: somehow on the bottom side of the Command Service module. 598 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,280 Speaker 1: But that doesn't make any sense. The Command Service module's 599 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,359 Speaker 1: engine is on the base of the service module, so 600 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,919 Speaker 1: you can't you can't have a lunar module under that 601 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,680 Speaker 1: or you would be blasting the lunar module with your engine. 602 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:40,840 Speaker 1: So again, when the whole spacecraft would go into Earth orbit, 603 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: they would have to have this maneuver where the Command 604 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:48,560 Speaker 1: Service module would effectively turn around in space and dock 605 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,839 Speaker 1: point to point with the lunar module. So it's it's 606 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 1: like the two tops of the spacecraft are attaching a 607 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:00,399 Speaker 1: course in space top and bottom. That really loses meaning 608 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,640 Speaker 1: when you're in a microgravity environment, you don't really have 609 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,640 Speaker 1: to worry about the top versus a bottom. Uh. It 610 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: becomes kind of a confusing nomenclature because there's no gravity 611 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: to use as a point of reference. But it did 612 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,560 Speaker 1: mean that when the Command Service Module would travel to 613 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,040 Speaker 1: the Moon, it would have the Lunar module on the 614 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:23,279 Speaker 1: front point of it, so that the tip of that 615 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,319 Speaker 1: cone would attach to the lunar module. Then the the 616 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,239 Speaker 1: service module of the CSM was where the propulsion system was, 617 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: and that's where you would get your thrust from your engine. 618 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 1: So the crew went through these maneuvers. They connected the 619 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,880 Speaker 1: Command Service Module to the lunar module in space, and 620 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,480 Speaker 1: they moved between the two and on day five, two 621 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,560 Speaker 1: of the Apollo nine crew transferred to the lunar module 622 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,799 Speaker 1: and the two modules separated from each other. So you 623 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:53,840 Speaker 1: had a Command Service Module with one astronaut in it 624 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,680 Speaker 1: and a lunar module with two astronauts in it. So 625 00:37:56,719 --> 00:38:00,239 Speaker 1: you had two craft, two modules that were orbiting the Earth, 626 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:03,760 Speaker 1: both of which were carrying astronauts. The lunar module fired 627 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,440 Speaker 1: its engine to put it into a different orbit. Originally 628 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: it was a twelve miles higher than the Command Service Module. 629 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: Several hours later, the two modules would rendezvous again. The 630 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:18,279 Speaker 1: lunar module would go into a lower orbit in preparation 631 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,919 Speaker 1: for a rendezvous. The two craft were able to dock 632 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:27,239 Speaker 1: again and the uh the two astronauts transferred back over 633 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,399 Speaker 1: into the command service module. In preparation for landing, they 634 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,600 Speaker 1: jettison the lunar module because you can't land with a 635 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: lunar module attached to it, And then later they were 636 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,279 Speaker 1: separated from the service module and returned to Earth. Re 637 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,560 Speaker 1: entered the Earth's atmosphere. The Apollo nine spacecraft made one 638 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:47,360 Speaker 1: hundred fifty one orbits of the Earth in ten days, 639 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,920 Speaker 1: and it touched down on March thirteenth, nineteen sixty nine. Now, 640 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,920 Speaker 1: Apollo ten was a serious dry run at a lunar 641 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,920 Speaker 1: landing and included all procedures that would be involved with 642 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:02,120 Speaker 1: such a mission with one small exception, and that small 643 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,480 Speaker 1: exception was there was no actual landing on the Moon. 644 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,680 Speaker 1: But the mission did put a crude spacecraft, crude as 645 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,080 Speaker 1: in people were aborted, not that it was crude in design. 646 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:17,560 Speaker 1: It put a manned spacecraft. I hate using that phrase 647 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:20,000 Speaker 1: because of the gender, but it put a crude spacecraft 648 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:24,239 Speaker 1: in a lunar orbit, and that in would actually go 649 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,080 Speaker 1: through the whole process of rendezvous and docking with the 650 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 1: lunar module in the lunar orbit as if the lunar 651 00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: module had actually gone down to the Moon and ascended 652 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:38,200 Speaker 1: back into lunar orbit. It just didn't do that one 653 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,560 Speaker 1: part of it. It did everything else. This was NASA's 654 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,120 Speaker 1: last task before trying to actually put people on the Moon. 655 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:46,959 Speaker 1: The Apollo ten craft made only one and a half 656 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: orbits of the Earth before it moved into a translunar 657 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:53,000 Speaker 1: injection path. The lunar module inside the S four B 658 00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:56,280 Speaker 1: stage of the launch vehicles separated from the Command Service 659 00:39:56,320 --> 00:40:00,520 Speaker 1: Module twenty five minutes after the translunar injection and preparation 660 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 1: for the docking process that put the lunar module on 661 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 1: the nose of the Command Service Module for the rest 662 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:07,359 Speaker 1: of the trip to the Moon, and on May twenty two, 663 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,040 Speaker 1: in orbit around the Moon, the Command Service Module and 664 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:14,440 Speaker 1: lunar modules separated and performed a station keeping lunar orbit, 665 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: which meant that they were traveling not together because they 666 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:23,600 Speaker 1: were separate, but in an orbit where they could have 667 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:28,600 Speaker 1: a rendezvous if necessary. One astronaut, John Young, stayed aboard 668 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:32,200 Speaker 1: the command module as pilot. The other two astronauts, Thomas 669 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:36,400 Speaker 1: Stafford and Eugene Sarnen boarded the lunar module, and that 670 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,000 Speaker 1: would simulate what the crew of Apollo eleven would do 671 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 1: in preparation for a lunar landing. The command module would 672 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:45,399 Speaker 1: stay in orbit around the Moon, and the other two 673 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:47,720 Speaker 1: astronauts would get to go down on the lunar surface, 674 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,399 Speaker 1: not not with Apollo tin, but with Apollo eleven. So 675 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: in Apollo ten they just simulated this by going into 676 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:57,279 Speaker 1: orbit around the Moon, but not actually landing on it. 677 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,479 Speaker 1: And after sixteen lunar orbits, the two modules ocked again 678 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,360 Speaker 1: and Stafford and Sernan came back aboard the Man's Service 679 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:08,600 Speaker 1: module with Young, and then they jettisoned the lunar module 680 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,560 Speaker 1: and returned home. The command module, by that on that 681 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: particular mission had the nickname Charlie Brown, and the lunar 682 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:17,920 Speaker 1: module's nickname was Snoopy, which I thought was cute. The 683 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:22,040 Speaker 1: Apollo Tis spacecraft completed all its mission objectives and performed 684 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:24,680 Speaker 1: a maneuver to enter trans Earth injection, came back home 685 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:29,520 Speaker 1: without major incident. It splashed down on May nine, and 686 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:32,080 Speaker 1: so the stage was set for a real lunar landing. 687 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: And now we're finally up to Apollo eleven. All the 688 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,560 Speaker 1: Apollo missions were historic, but this is the one that 689 00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:41,240 Speaker 1: most people talk about. If they're not talking about Apollo 690 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:43,440 Speaker 1: with their team, which we'll get to in the next episode, 691 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,720 Speaker 1: they talked about Apollo eleven. This was the first mission 692 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:49,360 Speaker 1: that put astronauts on the Moon, which is an achievement 693 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,799 Speaker 1: only the United States has managed. So far. NASA has 694 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:56,200 Speaker 1: done pretty much everything it could do at that point 695 00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:59,040 Speaker 1: to prepare for this mission. They simulated all the maneuvers 696 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:02,360 Speaker 1: in space. They used the various modules that would be 697 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,480 Speaker 1: needed in order to achieve success. But one thing that 698 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,000 Speaker 1: had not yet happened was an actual landing of a 699 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:11,440 Speaker 1: lunar module on the surface of the Moon and more importantly, 700 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,319 Speaker 1: launching that module off the surface of the Moon back 701 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:18,359 Speaker 1: into lunar orbit. Apolo eleven would have to do that 702 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,160 Speaker 1: in order to get the lunar astronauts back home safely. 703 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: So it was it was scary. It was also thrilling. 704 00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:30,839 Speaker 1: I mean, the astronauts, as far as I can tell, 705 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:35,320 Speaker 1: weren't scared. They were just raring to go. So Poulo eleven, 706 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,240 Speaker 1: launched on July six, nineteen sixty nine, had Neil Armstrong, 707 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:43,920 Speaker 1: Michael Collins, and buzz Aldron aboard. Four days after launch, 708 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: Armstrong would set foot upon the Moon, a small step 709 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:52,080 Speaker 1: for a man, but a giant leap for mankind. Buzz 710 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,640 Speaker 1: Aldrin piloted the lunar module, so he went down with 711 00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,400 Speaker 1: Neil Armstrong to the Moon. He was in charge with 712 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,360 Speaker 1: when the lunar module can leaded its thirteenth orbit of 713 00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:04,680 Speaker 1: the Moon and then fired its descent engine to start 714 00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:08,040 Speaker 1: descent towards the Moon's surface. The descent required a last 715 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,879 Speaker 1: minute change of plans, actually, because the trajectory they were 716 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 1: on would have the lunar module land in a crater, 717 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,120 Speaker 1: and they didn't want to do that, so they had 718 00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:20,719 Speaker 1: to change uh sort of at the last minute. They 719 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:23,760 Speaker 1: ended up touching down about four miles away from where 720 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,200 Speaker 1: their predicted landing site had been. The lunar module landed 721 00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:29,640 Speaker 1: on the dusty surface of the Moon, and about four 722 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:33,520 Speaker 1: hours after landing, Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the surface 723 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,680 Speaker 1: and buzz Aldron would join them about twenty minutes later. 724 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,200 Speaker 1: Armstrong spent probably around two and a half hours on 725 00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,040 Speaker 1: the Moon's surface walking around a space suit. Of course, 726 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:46,439 Speaker 1: Aldrin would re enter the lunar module about forty minutes 727 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:49,160 Speaker 1: ahead of Armstrong. Armstrong really took his time out there. 728 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,920 Speaker 1: UM can't blame them. I think it probably was fascinating, 729 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:53,920 Speaker 1: and not only that, but it was part of the mission. 730 00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:56,920 Speaker 1: The lunar module spent about twenty one and a half 731 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,360 Speaker 1: hours on the surface of the Moon. Meanwhile, the command 732 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:04,560 Speaker 1: module continued to orbit the Moon up above. Must have 733 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:08,480 Speaker 1: been pretty lonely up there, honestly. The lunar module engaged 734 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:12,600 Speaker 1: its ascent stage engine at one four hours twenty two 735 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:16,560 Speaker 1: minutes into the mission. Less than ten minutes later, the 736 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:20,879 Speaker 1: lunar module was in a lunar orbit, so it took 737 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:22,920 Speaker 1: less than ten minutes to go from the surface of 738 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: the Moon into lunar orbit, and the command module was 739 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:29,120 Speaker 1: in its twenty five orbit around the Moon at that point. 740 00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:33,520 Speaker 1: The two modules docked at one hours three minutes into 741 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,759 Speaker 1: the mission, and Armstrong and Aldrin then transferred back over 742 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:39,840 Speaker 1: to the Command Service module. A few hours later, the 743 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 1: crew jettison the lunar module into lunar orbit, and then 744 00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:48,000 Speaker 1: they prepared to go home. The Apollo eleven completed fifty 745 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:51,440 Speaker 1: nine hours of lunar orbit before moving into a trans 746 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:55,920 Speaker 1: Earth injection. This was on July one. The Apollo eleven 747 00:44:55,960 --> 00:45:01,799 Speaker 1: spacecraft would touchdown on Earth on July nine. Astronauts had 748 00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:06,120 Speaker 1: successfully traveled to the Moon and returned home safely. I 749 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:11,320 Speaker 1: am still amazed even now looking back on that achievement 750 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,160 Speaker 1: and thinking all the things that were required in order 751 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:18,600 Speaker 1: to make that a success. It is a phenomenal testament 752 00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:24,240 Speaker 1: to the ingenuity of humans. Countless men and women worked 753 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,319 Speaker 1: together to make this happen. And when I look up 754 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,680 Speaker 1: at the Moon and think people have been there, it 755 00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:33,520 Speaker 1: blows my mind to this day. But it's time for 756 00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:36,920 Speaker 1: me to wrap up this episode. In our next episode, 757 00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:40,319 Speaker 1: I'm going to give a quick overview, you know me, 758 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,239 Speaker 1: It probably won't be quick. I'll give an overview of 759 00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:46,279 Speaker 1: what the other Apollo missions were all about. All of 760 00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:49,680 Speaker 1: them are important and they all really deserve their own episodes, 761 00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:52,759 Speaker 1: but I'll give an overview of those. Then I'll transition 762 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:57,399 Speaker 1: to talking about the Soyuz spacecraft, the Soviet spacecraft that 763 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:03,120 Speaker 1: was used to not only doc with the first space station, 764 00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:08,600 Speaker 1: but also ended up being a vehicle that transported the 765 00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:12,520 Speaker 1: first space tourists in space. Though from what I understand, 766 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,000 Speaker 1: they all hate being called that. We'll talk that about 767 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:18,960 Speaker 1: that in the next episode. Now as I wrap up here, 768 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,360 Speaker 1: I want to tell you guys about our new merchandise store, 769 00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:26,480 Speaker 1: are t public site. It's live and it's awesome. We 770 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,680 Speaker 1: finally have tech Stuff merchandise. You can buy t shirts, 771 00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:34,880 Speaker 1: tote bags, phone cases, stickers, all sorts of stuff, coffee mugs. 772 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,680 Speaker 1: I've got a tech Stuff coffee mug now. It's awesome. 773 00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:40,680 Speaker 1: If you love the tech Stuff logo, you can get 774 00:46:40,719 --> 00:46:44,080 Speaker 1: that on a shirt now. But my favorite design of 775 00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:46,319 Speaker 1: all the ones we've done so far, and we've only 776 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:51,880 Speaker 1: just started, has a sketch of Ada Lovelace, the Enchantress 777 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:55,520 Speaker 1: of Numbers, and it says code like a girl. And 778 00:46:55,719 --> 00:47:00,480 Speaker 1: I love that shirt. I've already put in my orders 779 00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:03,520 Speaker 1: for merchandise with that stuff on it. But here's the 780 00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:06,359 Speaker 1: cool thing too, It's not only do you get this 781 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:08,920 Speaker 1: awesome stuff that you guys have been asking for for 782 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:11,800 Speaker 1: a while. When you purchase something, some of that money 783 00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:14,600 Speaker 1: actually goes to the show. You'll be helping our show 784 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,400 Speaker 1: with those purchases. So go check it out see if 785 00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:21,440 Speaker 1: there's anything you like. Anything you buy, you are actually 786 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:25,160 Speaker 1: helping us make this show. You are part of the team, 787 00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:28,600 Speaker 1: and I greatly appreciate it. We have new designs going 788 00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:31,160 Speaker 1: up all the time. In fact, I submitted a brand 789 00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:34,319 Speaker 1: new design just before I came into the studio, and 790 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:37,160 Speaker 1: I hope to see that included in the store very soon. 791 00:47:37,239 --> 00:47:38,800 Speaker 1: If you want to check it out, it is t 792 00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:42,719 Speaker 1: public dot com slash tech Stuff. That's t E E 793 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:47,080 Speaker 1: Public dot com slash tech Stuff. Check those out see 794 00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:49,960 Speaker 1: what you think. If you have any suggestions for future episodes, 795 00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:53,080 Speaker 1: send me an email addresses tech stuff at how stuff 796 00:47:53,080 --> 00:47:55,800 Speaker 1: works dot com, or drop me a line on Facebook 797 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:57,800 Speaker 1: or Twitter. The handle at both of those is text 798 00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:01,840 Speaker 1: stuff H s W. Don't forget check out our Instagram account. 799 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:04,520 Speaker 1: Go follow that. You might end up seeing some designs 800 00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:07,160 Speaker 1: before they even go live in the tech stuff store, 801 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:17,600 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon for more 802 00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:19,960 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Because it how 803 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:30,880 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com.