{"id":213829,"date":"2022-05-30T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=213829"},"modified":"2022-05-26T04:33:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T03:33:37","slug":"getting-a-grip-on-apollo-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/05\/getting-a-grip-on-apollo-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting a Grip on Apollo 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

25 May 2022 – <\/em>Since my personal investigations into the veracity of the Apollo lunar missions, having concluded that they were in fact a hoax, several of my friends wondered aloud if I were a Holocaust denier (I am not) or a flat-earther (not one of these either), and have strongly urged me to \u2018get a grip\u2019.<\/p>\n

So I took their advice by trying to get a better grip on the Apollo 11 Command Module\u2019s EVA (Extravehicular Activity) handles and I discovered an interesting discussion about the handles here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From this forum a picture emerged of the Command Module Columbia<\/em> post-recovery, aboard the USS Hornet, the rescue ship:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(http:\/\/www.collectspace.com\/review\/apollo11_cm_radiationlabels01-lg.jpg)<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Phil Kouts has addressed the immense requirements of an appropriate heat shield for re-entry from lunar orbit in his excellent articles here<\/a> and\u00a0 here<\/a>, along with the results of NASA\u2019s relatively recent Orion test.<\/p>\n

In NASA\u2019s Apollo Operations Handbook<\/a> one will find a detailed description of the EVA handles from pages 2.12-51 to 2.12-53 and learn that:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fixed handles are aluminum, oval-shaped tubes 12 inches long with a support fitting at each end. The handles are used for EVA maneuvering.\u00a0 The hatch has a smaller fixed handle near the hatch mechanism that is used for opening the hatch.\u00a0 All the handle supports are bolted into fiber-glass inserts into the ablative material. They may or may not burn off on entry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here<\/a> is a helpful view of the EVA handles from the Smithsonian. Please note that the handles currently on display are not the originals, which were shipped off to a radioactive waste dump with the exception of the only remaining handle in the possession of collector Steve Jurvetson, which may be seen here<\/a>. after it was auctioned off.<\/p>\n

As far as I can ascertain, the aluminum alloy used for the EVA handles was 2024-T3510 Aluminum<\/a>, whose melting point is 1180 degrees Fahrenheit.\u00a0 For comparison\u2019s sake, the melting point of Titanium<\/a> is 3034 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

The thermal protection subsystem for the Command Module entries from lunar orbit is discussed in detail by NASA here<\/a>.\u00a0 In addition there is an excellent video<\/a> on the construction of the heat shield for the Module, which extended over its entirety.<\/p>\n

Re-entry from cis-lunar orbit was one of the principal challenges of the Apollo missions.\u00a0 The Command Module would have struck the earth\u2019s atmosphere at a speed of approximately 40,000 Km\/h, and the surface of the Command Module would have risen to 5000 degrees Fahrenheit<\/a> as it was enveloped by a thermal plasma.<\/p>\n

Artist\u2019s Rendering of Apollo Re-Entry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(http:\/\/howthingsfly.si.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/image-large\/Apollo%20Reentry-1_lg.jpg)<\/p><\/div>\n

How then, may I ask, would the EVA handles, composed of an aluminum alloy whose melting point was far below this intense heat, have survived intact?\u00a0 It is highly doubtful that even titanium EVAs, with a far greater melting point,\u00a0 would not have been burnt off unless re-entry commenced in reality from Low Earth Orbit, when temperatures would have been much cooler.<\/p>\n

Apollo 11 After Splashdown<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(http:\/\/www.apolloarchive.com\/apg_thumbnail.php?ptr=683&imageID=S69-21698)<\/p><\/div>\n

______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the initial abridged version of a more comprehensive technical article<\/a>. David Percy, the editor of www.aulis.com<\/a>, added quite significantly to the longer version. I am also indebted to Mr. James Ward for\u00a0 drawing my attention to the Apollo handles in an email exchange.\u00a0 I have decided that this will be my final \u2018word\u2019 on the Apollo missions.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Dr. Emanuel E. Garcia is a Philadelphia-born writer, theatrical director, physician (retired psychiatrist), and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>. He has resided in New Zealand since 2006 and his political essays and poetry have appeared widely on various websites and publications including<\/a><\/em> TMS<\/a>. <\/em>His most recent novel, published in 2021, is the story of an Italian wayfarer entitled\u00a0<\/em>Olympia. <\/em>Website: www.emanuelegarcia.com<\/a>. Email: <\/em>emanuelegarcia@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 May 2022 – Since my personal investigations into the veracity of the Apollo lunar missions, having concluded that they were in fact a hoax, several of my friends wondered aloud if I were a Holocaust denier (I am not) or a flat-earther (not one of these either), and have strongly urged me to \u2018get a grip\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":87560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[2865,1113,1114,2212,304,1157,70],"class_list":["post-213829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-apollo-mission","tag-hoax","tag-moonlanding","tag-nasa","tag-science","tag-space-science","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}