One of the fun things about working on manned space projects is that you get to get up close to interesting flight hardware.

For example, my first day on the job with LM I was given a thorough tour of the Shuttle external tank production line...and for the next six-plus years had anytime access to visit the giant parts that go into it and the giant tools which assemble them (in addition to actually working with said parts and tooling for the better part of a year). A few months later, while working in Palmdale, I got an up-close tour of Atlantis while it was in the depot for an overhaul. And then there was that unauthorized tour of KSC a couple of years ago...

Working on "Apollo on steroids" has now borne its own fruit: while in Houston on Tuesday, a bunch of us got a quite thorough tour of America, the CM used on Apollo 17. Very educational. Photographs, plans, and Virtual Apollo can only show you so much, after all, so it was a great opportunity to see the real thing. It was also interesting to see it with different eyes this time around, since I've learned a lot more about the design details of the CM since the last time I saw one two years ago...it's surprising how much more you see when you know what it is you're looking at.

The forward compartment, with the drogue mortars, pitch-down thrusters, retrieval loop, and "flowerpot" visible in front of the docking tunnel.

I'd sat in (what was described as) a trainer at the museum in Huntsville several years ago, so I knew going in how small the interior was. The real thing, however, it didn't seem quite as tight, and certainly nowhere near as claustrophobic as I remembered. It was exceedingly difficult to sit up from the center couch, though, due to my height and the lack of clearance to the instrument panel, and it was uncomfortable to lie back on the couch as well (the headrest dug into my shoulders). I think I could manage a trip to the moon in that small of a volume, particularly with free fall to make it easier to get around in the tight confines, but only so long as I didn't have to share it with two other people.

Not surprisingly, it smelled like old electromechanical equipment inside -- machine oil and ozone.

Window 1 (Commander's window).

The only unfortunate part (aside from having to share time with a dozen other people), was that the only part of the vehicle we didn't have access to was the part whose Orion equivalent is my responsibility: the aft equipment bay and all the space under the backshell and heatshield. But then, NASA was being gracious in letting us examine America so intimately as it was...I think I would have been pushing my luck to ask them to start pulling off the TPS for me.

Roll thrusters

But the best thing about seeing it up close was that it was Apollo 17 which triggered my interest in space as a child. My grandmother sat me down in front of the television one day and told me to watch what was happening, and that it was something "historical" that I should remember: it was the splashdown of Apollo 17 on its return from the moon.

I took roughly 130 pictures while there, but unfortunately I left the CD with all the really interesting ones in the office this afternoon...those will have to wait until tomorrow.

Posted by T.L. James on March 22, 2007 05:50 PM | TrackBack