Episode 68: Houston, We've Had a Problem (The Apollo Program, Part XIII)

After Jack Swigert replaced Ken Mattingly just two days before the flight, the "official" Apollo 13 crew photos became a little more casual that those of past missions.

The Apollo 13 mission insignia depicts the Greek Sun god Apollo, with three horses pulling his chariot across the face of the moon. This was to symbolize the Apollo flights bring the light of knowledge to to all people as Apollo was to have brought the light of the sun to all people in Greek mythology. The mission motto: Ex luna, scientia (From the moon, knowledge) appears on the lower felt portion of the insignia. Lovell adapted the motto of his alma mater, the US Naval Academy, which is Ex scientia, tridens (From knowledge, sea power). The mission number appears in roman numerals. The patch did not have to be modified after Sweigart replaced Mattingly, as it is one of only two Apollo mission insignias without the crew’s name – the other being Apollo 11. 

On the second day of the mission, an onboard explosion changed the entire focus of the mission form one of landing on the moon to one of figuring out how to get the three astronauts back to Earth alive. It wasn't until just before reentering Earth's atmosphere, when the service module portion of the command module was jettisoned that the astronauts saw just how much physical damage the explosion had caused.

The explosion happened about 56 hours into the mission. It was possible to get the astronauts back to Earth without journeying all the way to the Moon but without knowning the exact extend of the damage to the command module, it was safer to plot a 4-day return route that had then pass behind the far side of the moon before venturing back to Earth.

One of the dangers of the Apolo 13 return flight wasthe accumulation of carbon dioxide in the lunar module where the astronauts had to evacuate too after the explosion. The CO2 scrubbers in the lunar laner were designed to support two astronauts for two days, not three astronauts for four days, and dangerous amounts of CO2 began to accumulate. The scrubbers in the lunar lander were designed to go into a cylindrical slot and the extra scrubbers in the command module were designed for a square slot.

Using only the materials available to the astroanuts in the spaceship, engineers on Earth MacGyvered a way to use a square CO2 scrubber with a cylindrical filter slot and coarbon dyoxide levels in the spaceship quickly fell back to near zero.

Another harship of the mission was that to conserve electricity that would be vital to the reentry process, many systems, including the heating sytem, had to be shut donw after passing around the moon and some places in the spaceship reached near-freezing temeratures and the astronauts had to spend much of their free time fighting the frigid condition. Showing their professionalism, the crew dud not complain about any of the hardships they faced - including poor Fred Haise who developed a painful urinary track infection.

 

If the accident had happened after the lunar surface activity poriton of the mission, the astronauts would have had no chance of making it home alive becasue the lunar module would have already been jettisoned. As it was, Aquarius served as a lifeboat and got the crew safely back to Earth orbit before it was jettisoned just prior to reentry.

An unknown passenger on an Air New Zealand flight from Fiji to Aukland snapped this picture of the disgarded service module and lunar module reentering Earth atmosphere. Both burned up on reentry and the remianing debris fell into the Pacific Ocean. Several other flight in the area also reporting seeing these crafts reentering.

Against all odds, the Apollo 13 mission managed to return to Earth and the three astronauts safely splashed down in the vecinity of American Samoa.

Episode 67: The Apollo Program, Part XII

 

Back in Episode 60, I mentioned that Buzz Aldrin shot down two MiG-15s in 1953 during the korean war. The above photo shows him celebrating his first aerial victory with a MiG-15 painted on the side of his F-86 Sabre.

Pictures from Aldrins gun camera showing the MiG pilot ejecting after being hit were published in Life Magazine in 1953.

Following his time with NASA, Colonel Aldrin wanted to be the Commendant of the Air Force academy. That position went to Hoyt Vandenberg, who now has a Space Force base (previously an Air Force base) in California named after him. Instead, Aldrin was appointed Commendand of the Air Force Test Pilot School, despite having no test pilot or managerial experience. He had hoped the position would be a relaxing one - it proved anything but. While in command, he was diagnosed with depression and hospitolized for four weeks. He retired form the Air Force soon after.

After retirement (and after conquering some deamons like alcholoism) Aldrin continued his adventurous life, traveling to the north pole, the south pole, and in 2017, becoming the oldest person to fly with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's demonstraiton flying team.

Aldrin has continued his advocacy for space exploration but believes that the moon should not be the destination - NASA has been there, done that. In his mind, any moon venture should be a stepping stone for Mars and that humans should strive to become a two planet species by 2040.

In 2015, Aldrin tweeted a copy of his travel voucher to the moon, showing that he received $33.31 in per diem

Another tweet showed the customs form that he and his Apollo 11 colleagues had to sign for the rock and soil samples the brought back from their lunar mission.

Not resting on its laurels, NASA sent a second mission to the moon before the end of 1969. The Apollo 12 crew consisted of (left to right) Mission Commander Pete Conrad, Command Module Pilot Dick Gordon, and Lunar Modual Pilot Al Bean.

One of Apollo 12's objectives was to visit the Surveyor 3 lunar probe, sent to the moon by NASA in 1967, and bring some pieces of it back to earth (inclusing its camera and rock samples it had collected and photographed). This was the first time humans had visited a man-made object sent to the moon. The lunar module Intrepid is visible in the upper right of the image.

During the return trip to Earth, the Apollo 12 crew took some pictures of a solar eclipse that occured when the Earth passed between their spacecrft Yankee Clipper and the sun. Al Bean called it the most spectacular site of the mission.

There are four prominant stars on the Apollo 12 mission patch - three represent the members of the crew, and the fourth star is for Marine Major CC Williams who was assigned to the crew but died in a plane crash before the mission. He was replaced by Al Bean.

Marine Corps Major Clifton Curtis "CC" Williams, Jr., the first member of NASA's 5th astronaut class to be assigned to a space mission, is burried in Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 3, Grave 2503. He was 35 years old.

Episode 66: The Apollo Program, Part XI

 

After the crew of Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, there were recovered by the USS Hornet and placed in quarentine in a modified Airstream trailer until they could be transported to the larger quarentine facility in Houston, TX.

President Nixon was waiting on board to greet the astronauts, welcome them back to Earth, and congratulate them on a successful and historic mission.

Jan Armstrong, Joan Aldrin, and Pat Collins were flow to Hawaii to great their husbands after they were unloaded from the USS Hornet at Pearl Harbor.

Today, the quarentine trailer can be visited at the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia.

Aside from the occasional photo op, there was not a lot for the astronauts to do after splashdown until they arrived in Houston and their formal debriefing began.

After the Astronauts were released from quarentine, they received a plethora of accolaids and celebrations, including the traditional ticker-tape parade in New York City.

After an around the world goodwill tour with the entire Apollo 11 crew, Armstrong was invited to the Soviet Union and was presented a badge by Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.

After his unexpected death, Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Neil Armstrong was cremated and on September 14, 2012, his remains were buired at sea from the USS Philippine Sea.

After his death, the Armstrong family encouraged everyone to remember Neil on the moon, go outside and give him a wink. This started the trending hastag #winkatthemoon and a memorial twitter profile of the same name.

After Apollo 11, Michael Collins held multiple high profile public jobs, including Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs, the first president of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, and undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

One of the more obscure facts I discovered about Collins is that he had no middle name
 

My middle name is “none”, as in I don’t have one. When I was younger, I kind of resented not having a middle name. Now, I like the simplicity of Michael Collins. #MiddleNamePrideDay pic.twitter.com/sT9jfQ6ac2

— Michael Collins (@AstroMCollins) March 6, 2020

Air Force Major General Michael Collins passed away in Florida on April 28, 2021. He was 90 years old.

Episode 65: On the Lunar Surface (The Apollo Program, Part X)

Most of the pictures taken during the Apollo 11 Lunar Extravehicular Activity (EVA) are of Buzz Aldrin, because Neil Armstrong held the camera most of the mission. In this image of Aldrin, Armstrong can be seen reflected in the gold sunshield covering Aldrin's face. Aldrin's arm is lifted like it is because he is reading the to-do checklist sewen into his left gauntlet to help keep him on task. Armstrong also had a to-do list for his portion of the EVA.

Buzz Aldrin exiting the lunar lander, Eagle

Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag

Buzz Aldring removing one of the experiments from Eagle

Buzz Aldrin set up the seismometer experiment about 150 feet (45 meters) from Eagle

Buzz Aldrin took this photo of his footpring in an untouched area for study by soil-mechanics experts back on Earth 

One of the rare photos of Armstrong on the moon conducting maintenance on Eagle

The plaque I mentioned in Episode 63 attached to one of Eagle's descent stage legs that was left behind when the ascent stage returned to lunar orbit

Mission control watching the Apollo 11 EVA

Armstrong was all smiles back in Eagle after the successful two hour and twenty minute EVA

One last glance at the lunar surface before the ascent stage lifts off. You can see the flag (which Aldrin saw fall over just after lift-off) surrounded by astronaut footprints and a white camera mounted on a white pole 

Episode 64: The Eagle Has Landed (The Apollo Program, Part IX)

After weeks of waiting, we've finally made it to the moon landing! After entering lunar orbit, Apollo 11 undocked, with Michael Collins remaining in the command module Columbia and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the lunar lander Eagle. 

Before attempting the landing, Columbia and Eagle flew in formation so Collins could visually inspect the lander (above) for any damage that may have occured during the translunar voyage or separation.

Of course, while Collins was photographing Eagle in lunar orbit, Armstrong and Collins felt it was only fair to photograph Columbia in lunar orbit (above).

Once everything checked out, the only thing left to do was to try to land Eagle on the lunar surface. Fortunately, Armstrong was more than up to the daunting task.

Episode 63: From the Earth to the Moon (The Apollo Program, Part VIII)

 

The day had finally arrived - July 16, 1969. Once in space it would take the crew of Apollo 11 three days to enter lunar orbit, but it was time to get this group of "amiable strangers" under way. There was a lot that could go wrong in 72 hours, but if all went according to plan, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would attempt to become the first people to land, and hopefully walk, on the moon. While they were working on that, their colleague Michael Collin would have to come to grips with the fact that he may have to leave them behind, even if the attempt to land didn't kill them.

Episode 62: Go for Launch (The Apollo Program, Part VII)

Wernher von Braun is, without a doubt, the reason why the United States was able to land a man on the moon - not just in 1969, but ever. He was also a very complex many with plenty of skeletons in his closet.

So that he could continue working on rockets after earning his doctorat in Berlin in 1939, von Braun applied to join the Nazi Party and was accepted. The above photo is him (in a black suite and a zircular swastika lapel pin) with many of the Nazi soldiers who worked for an with him in the German rocketry program during World War II. 

Heinrich Himmler, Hitler's #2 and the monster in charge of the SS, insisted that von Braun join the SS, which he did. After the war, von Braun surrendered to the Americans and was brought to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip. Hundreds, if not thousands, of German scientists and engineers were brought to the United States and had their records wiped clean in return for working for the US government. The above image is thought to the the only one that shows von Braun (blocked mostly by Himmler) wearing his black SS officer uniform, having been ordered to wear if for Himmler's inspection.

After coming to the United States, he built rockets for the Army, became a US citizen, joined NASA, and popularized the idea of manned space exploration by helping Walt Disney make several Wonderful World of Disney programs about the subject before helping the US launch its first sattelite and building the heavy lift Saturn V rocket for the Apollo Program.

Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun died from kidney cancer on June 16, 1977 in Alexandria, Virginia. He is buried in Arlington's Ivy Hill Cemetery. He is widley seen as the father of space travel and the father of the American lunar program.

 Apollo 11 backup commander, Jim Lovel, came up with the idea of using a bald eagle, the United State's national bird, as the symbol for the mission. The olive branch in the bird's talons is to represent the peaceful nature of the lunar mission. The astronauts decided not to put their names on the patch so it would be representative of everyeone who had worked toward the lunar landing. 

After adopting an eagle as the mission's official symbol, the lunar lander was given Eagle as its call sign.

The command module was named Columbia