New hoax claim about footpad insulation.

[echnaton]

McCoy has now identified the book used where the photos he finds problematic appeared as “Man on the Moon, A Picture Chronology Of Man In Space Exploration”.


An Amazon review of the out of print book characterizes it as

The space program has a long history in Texas, and this Galina Publications booklet from Dallas appears to be one of the early souvenirs of the Apollo missions highlighting the achievements of the space program, and culminates in the Apollo 11 mission that first landed on the moon. This appears to be a commemorative booklet issued at the time in 1969 with photos and diagrams from NASA.

It is a pretty sketchy source to serve as the basis for a theory of such a major conspiracy. He has not made any allowance for mislabeled photos or his own possible misinterpretation of the book.

To his credit, McCoy has allowed comments on his blog page but I wonder if he will come here to fully explain his ideas and answer his critics.

[tedward]

One can hope he visits. His bio says things (his blog site), will he follow through?

[LunarOrbit]

He has joined the forum, but I didn't notice right away and didn't approve his account until the next day. So he might have gotten tired of waiting.

[ineluki]

Nov 16, 2010 13:58:10 GMT -4 LunarOrbit said:

So he might have gotten tired of waiting.

I think if he is honest and serious, he should be back...

[gonetoplaid]

There are plenty of Apollo 11 photos, plus video, showing the Eagle's footpads after LM-CSM separation and visual checkout of the LM by Collins inside the CSM. Aside from this, Mark McCoy could have taken the time to do just a little bit of searching on NASA's technical documents server. Had he done that, then he likely would have come across these two PDF documents. One in particular describes how scale model tests confirmed that the landing gear did not have enough thermal insulation.

APOLLO EXPERIENCE REPORT - LUNAR MODULE LANDING GEAR SUBSYSTEM
TN D-6850
ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720018253_1972018253.pdf

APOLLO EXPERIENCE REPORT - THERMAL PROTECTION FROM ENGINE-PLUME ENVIRONMENTS
TN D-6844
ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720018272_1972018272.pdf

In any event, photos AS11-44-6565 through AS11-44-6598 clearly show the additional thermal insulation blankets which NASA added to the Eagle's landing gear system prior to launch. This Mark McCoy guy should have done his homework by doing some more research on the subject.

[tedward]

Don't disagree with you but thought his argument was there were no images prior launch. I mean, its not as if back then they thought "better take a piccy of the landing gear through the last few inches before it being buttoned down for launch". You know, just in case someone thinks it is fishy. One thing I have noticed is the LM in the factory seem to be sans legs until the last minute? Also I think on his site he still has doubts over 9 in orbit yet there are a few clearly labelled as such.

Interesting read by the way, work in progress almost up to launch? That document server is a gold mine, dip in on occasion when a topic crops up and it just goes to show it was not knocked up after the event.

[gonetoplaid]

Nov 18, 2010 4:12:56 GMT -4 tedward said:

...One thing I have noticed is the LM in the factory seem to be sans legs until the last minute?...Interesting read by the way, work in progress almost up to launch?...

I'm not sure, but I think that LM5 may have been shipped to Houston sans the primary and secondary landing struts since those were already in the process of being modified to handle the thermal loads? Anyway, that is just a guess without doing some more research into the subject. It is quite possible that the primary and secondary struts had to be removed prior to transport to Houston and subsequently to the cape.

[echnaton]

Nov 18, 2010 8:15:41 GMT -4 gonetoplaid said:

I think that LM5 may have been shipped to Houston

That would be shipped to Florida.

Photos of other LMs show preparation work done at the KSC without the legs on. Shipping without the legs makes since for logistics reasons if no other. The container could be much smaller and there would be less chance for damage without the protrusions.

[Data Cable]

Nov 18, 2010 8:50:23 GMT -4 echnaton said:

Shipping without the legs makes since for logistics reasons if no other. The container could be much smaller and there would be less chance for damage without the protrusions.

Some assembly required. Your parents put it together.

[echnaton]

Nov 18, 2010 11:30:23 GMT -4 Data Cable said:

Nov 18, 2010 8:50:23 GMT -4 echnaton said:

Shipping without the legs makes since for logistics reasons if no other. The container could be much smaller and there would be less chance for damage without the protrusions.

Some assembly required. Your parents put it together.

In this case you get a team of engineers and highly skilled tradesmen with the delivery. Something my father thought was needed to assemble a train set.

[echnaton]

From Ed Hartwell's web site.

The LM is again now put into its testing work stand. When all components of the LM subsystems have been verified (this is a long process performed while much of the LM is still being electrically manufactured), the installation of thermal blankets and micrometeoroid shielding begins. The spacecraft is now ready for Final Engineering and Acceptance Testing.

Prior to shipment, the stages of the Lunar Module are separated and a landing gear deployment check is made. The landing gear is then removed prior to the LM being put into a protective container.

The Lunar Module ascent stage is then prepared for shipment. Technicians verify that all components are properly secured.


Final inspection

The stages are put into protective containers. When the entire stage has been encased, dry nitrogen is pumped into the container and maintained at positive pressure during the flight to KSC. Lastly, the separately Packaged Lunar Module stages are placed aboard the Super Guppy aircraft for the flight to NASA Kennedy Space Center.

This does not address McCoy's claims but until he comes here to further explain himself, we can dig up interesting stuff.

[gonetoplaid]

Nov 18, 2010 11:30:23 GMT -4 Data Cable said:

Some assembly required. Your parents put it together.

Not my parents. When I was a kid my dad couldn't put together the Big Wheel my brother got for Christmas.

[tedward]

I used to put a model aeroplane together in minutes complete with paint and transfers. Mind you, looked like a tank when I finished, a messy one.

[ka9q]

Nov 16, 2010 10:23:36 GMT -4 Bob B. said:

I don't think there is any question the footpads and primary struts are wrapped with gold Mylar. Both the KSC and JSC web sites identify this photo as being of Apollo 11's LM-5.

"Gold" Mylar? I thought that was actually aluminized Kapton, with the aluminum on the opposite site so it's seen through the orange-colored Kapton.

Actual gold gets very hot in sunlight because its absorptance is relatively high for a metal (being yellow, it absorbs blue light) but, like all polished metals, has an extremely low emittance. Kapton with aluminum on the rear surface runs fairly cool because the Kapton has a very high IR emittance while the aluminum reflects visible light, decreasing the absorptance.

The most extreme example of such a hybrid material is OSR - optical solar reflector - consisting of Teflon or quartz (high emittance) backed by silver (low absorptance).

[Bob B.]

Nov 21, 2010 9:55:46 GMT -4 ka9q said:

"Gold" Mylar? I thought that was actually aluminized Kapton, with the aluminum on the opposite site so it's seen through the orange-colored Kapton.

You're right, it was Kapton. I don't why I said Mylar - somehow that word got into my head and I just kept repeating it. Regarding the "gold" comment, I'm referring to the color gold, not the element gold. The Kapton was indeed aluminized and I never meant to imply that it was gold coated; only that it was "gold colored".