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Not to mention there were certainly other problems with Apollo like mission 13, or 11 barely landing before running out of fuel (computer problem forced Armstro

by tdicola 12y ago

Not to mention there were certainly other problems with Apollo like mission 13, or 11 barely landing before running out of fuel (computer problem forced Armstrong to take manual control and find a new landing spot at the last minute). Ultimately though Apollo was just too big and expensive a program to maintain, for better or worse.

cstross 12y ago
... Also, there was Neil Armstrong's ejection from the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle in 1966: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Landing_Research_Vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Landing_Research_Vehicle (And I see another test pilot, Joe Algranti, also had a very close call flying a second-generation LLTV -- ejecting 0.6 seconds before it crashed!) NASA came very close to losing more astronauts during mission prep for Apollo, in addition to the Apollo 1 crew. (Even if we leave aside the four astronauts killed in T-38 crashes in the 1960s.)
Luc 12y ago
> computer problem forced Armstrong to take manual control and find a new landing spot at the last minute The computer kept flying the machine despite the interrupts and reboots due to the radar switch that Buzz had left on. It was really marvelously designed to be able to keep on executing its highest priority tasks. The reason for the (semi) manual control was that the designated landing spot was a boulder field. The computer kept on operating the throttle. Source: Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal.
wozniacki 12y ago
For what its worth - and not necessarily to draw parallels with the Cygnus CRS Orb-3 mishap - Russia successfully launched an unmanned Soyuz rocket and Progress 57 cargo ship with supplies for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, hours after the catastrophic explosion destroyed a similar mission in the United States.[1] The cargo ship was expected to and successfully docked with the ISS later in the day.[2] [1] Russia Launches ISS Cargo After US Craft Explodes http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-launches-iss-cargo-mission-after-us-rocket-explodes/2500270.html http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-launches-iss-cargo-mis... Russian supply ship poised for launch Wednesday http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/10/28/russian-supply-ship-poised-for-launch-wednesday/ http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/10/28/russian-supply-ship-poi... [2] Russian Progress M-25M docks with the ISS http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/10/russian-progress-iss-via-soyuz-2-1a-rocket/ http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/10/russian-progress-iss-...
codewritinfool 12y ago
Not exactly. The computer worked as designed. If they hadn't left the docking radar on, it would not have had any 1201 or 1202 alarms. A bunch of big rocks is why Armstrong took over.

by tdicola 12y ago

cstross 12y ago

... Also, there was Neil Armstrong's ejection from the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle in 1966: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Landing_Research_Vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Landing_Research_Vehicle (And I see another test pilot, Joe Algranti, also had a very close call flying a second-generation LLTV -- ejecting 0.6 seconds before it crashed!) NASA came very close to losing more astronauts during mission prep for Apollo, in addition to the Apollo 1 crew. (Even if we leave aside the four astronauts killed in T-38 crashes in the 1960s.)

Luc 12y ago

> computer problem forced Armstrong to take manual control and find a new landing spot at the last minute The computer kept flying the machine despite the interrupts and reboots due to the radar switch that Buzz had left on. It was really marvelously designed to be able to keep on executing its highest priority tasks. The reason for the (semi) manual control was that the designated landing spot was a boulder field. The computer kept on operating the throttle. Source: Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal.

wozniacki 12y ago

For what its worth - and not necessarily to draw parallels with the Cygnus CRS Orb-3 mishap - Russia successfully launched an unmanned Soyuz rocket and Progress 57 cargo ship with supplies for the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, hours after the catastrophic explosion destroyed a similar mission in the United States.[1] The cargo ship was expected to and successfully docked with the ISS later in the day.[2] [1] Russia Launches ISS Cargo After US Craft Explodes http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-launches-iss-cargo-mission-after-us-rocket-explodes/2500270.html http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-launches-iss-cargo-mis... Russian supply ship poised for launch Wednesday http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/10/28/russian-supply-ship-poised-for-launch-wednesday/ http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/10/28/russian-supply-ship-poi... [2] Russian Progress M-25M docks with the ISS http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/10/russian-progress-iss-via-soyuz-2-1a-rocket/ http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/10/russian-progress-iss-...

codewritinfool 12y ago

Not exactly. The computer worked as designed. If they hadn't left the docking radar on, it would not have had any 1201 or 1202 alarms. A bunch of big rocks is why Armstrong took over.