Aldrin, not Armstrong broke the circuit breaker

[ka9q]

In www.clavius.org/bibcollier.html you say:

The cramped quarters of the lunar module is a feature well documented in several books about the Apollo program. There was a protocol for moving inside the spacecraft, and for "egressing" one at a time. Mr. Collier doesn't seem to appreciate that. He's not entirely in the dark, though. Neil Armstrong actually broke off a switch in his Apollo 11 lunar module by moving carelessly in his space suit. There was no margin for error. But it could be done.

Quoting from the ALSJ, www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.posteva.html:

112:56:28 Aldrin: Houston, Tranquility. Do you have a way of showing the configuration of the engine arm circuit breaker? Over. (Pause) The reason I'm asking is because the end of it appears to be broken off. I think we can push it back in again. I'm not sure we could pull it out if we pushed it in, though. Over.

112:56:56 McCandless: Roger. We copy. Stand by please. (Long Pause)

[With space limited in the cabin, a person wearing a PLSS has ample opportunity to hit a circuit breaker without being aware of it. The engine arm circuit breaker is seventh from the left in second row of Panel 16, which is on Buzz's side. Because Neil was never on that side of the spacecraft, it has to have been Buzz who hit it.]

[Aldrin - "There weren't guards over any of the circuit breakers. One got pushed in and one got broken off. So I must have pushed one in and broke one off (with his PLSS prior to doffing)."]

Note also that it was a circuit breaker, not a switch.

[ka9q]

Has anyone read my note? Just a friendly ping...

[banjomd]

Jul 22, 2010 5:47:00 GMT -4 ka9q said:

Has anyone read my note? Just a friendly ping...

Affirmative ;D

[JayUtah]

Yup, I read it. There's a post-it note on my monitor.

A technical problem is preventing me from updating the site currently. *mutter, grumble*

[Ginnie]

Jul 25, 2010 11:51:58 GMT -4 JayUtah said:

Yup, I read it. There's a post-it note on my monitor.

A technical problem is preventing me from updating the site currently. *mutter, grumble*

Jay has technical problems?

[ajv]

Yes.

He can't see through his monitor because it's covered with a two-deep layer of post-it notes.

[JayUtah]

Jul 25, 2010 15:24:23 GMT -4 Ginnie said:

Jay has technical problems?

Well it has to do with a USB flash drive and a Maytag appliance. The problem is technical in nature, but the root cause is operator error.

[Data Cable]

Jul 25, 2010 17:56:09 GMT -4 JayUtah said:

Well it has to do with a USB flash drive and a Maytag appliance. The problem is technical in nature, but the root cause is operator error.

You were trying to run a lunar lander simulator on a washing machine again, weren't you. ;D

[gillianren]

The problem we had with our similar appliance (not Maytag, though, I don't think) in the waning days of last year wasn't operator error. It was a design flaw. Makes it more satisfying to blame missing and destroyed objects on that particular event, though it would be better were those items not missing or destroyed!

[ka9q]

On the same page is the following:

The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) did not go inside the triangular section of the lunar module descent stage, as Mr. Collier suggests. He apparently misunderstood the Boeing engineers, or else never asked them some crucial questions. The triangular sections of the LM descent stage are where the landing gear is attached. The LRV rides bolted to the side of the rectangular section of the descent stage. It's not contained in anything.

Collier is actually right about the LRV being carried in a triangular corner section of the LM descent stage. If you look at the descent stage structure before the thermal and micrometeroid shielding was added, it did resemble a tic-tac-toe board with the corners missing.

There were four rectangular compartments, each with a propellant tank, at 90 deg intervals around a central rectangular compartment containing the descent engine. The legs were mounted on the ends of these square compartments, i.e., the front porch sat directly above one of the propellant tanks.

The four outer compartments formed triangular compartments, known as quads. In addition to things like batteries, oxygen, helium and water tanks, some of the quads were used for cargo. Quad 2 carried the lunar surface experiments; quad 4 held the MESA; and starting with Apollo 15, quad 1 held the LRV. But counter to Collier's contention, there was enough room in quad 1 to carry the LRV in its folded-up state.

[Vincent McConnell]

Apr 12, 2010 10:49:41 GMT -4 ka9q said:

In www.clavius.org/bibcollier.html you say:

The cramped quarters of the lunar module is a feature well documented in several books about the Apollo program. There was a protocol for moving inside the spacecraft, and for "egressing" one at a time. Mr. Collier doesn't seem to appreciate that. He's not entirely in the dark, though. Neil Armstrong actually broke off a switch in his Apollo 11 lunar module by moving carelessly in his space suit. There was no margin for error. But it could be done.

Quoting from the ALSJ, www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.posteva.html:

112:56:28 Aldrin: Houston, Tranquility. Do you have a way of showing the configuration of the engine arm circuit breaker? Over. (Pause) The reason I'm asking is because the end of it appears to be broken off. I think we can push it back in again. I'm not sure we could pull it out if we pushed it in, though. Over.

112:56:56 McCandless: Roger. We copy. Stand by please. (Long Pause)

[With space limited in the cabin, a person wearing a PLSS has ample opportunity to hit a circuit breaker without being aware of it. The engine arm circuit breaker is seventh from the left in second row of Panel 16, which is on Buzz's side. Because Neil was never on that side of the spacecraft, it has to have been Buzz who hit it.]

[Aldrin - "There weren't guards over any of the circuit breakers. One got pushed in and one got broken off. So I must have pushed one in and broke one off (with his PLSS prior to doffing)."]

Note also that it was a circuit breaker, not a switch.

That would have been so f**king scary. You're on the lunar surface and you break the engine arm that you need for lunar ascent. SCARY sh*t

[ka9q]

They had ways to work around that broken circuit breaker if it couldn't have been closed. Still, it's funny to hear Aldrin asking for permission to close the circuit breaker so he wouldn't have to wait to find out if it would work. The ground told him to leave it open until the time originally scheduled in the ascent checklist.

The crew didn't say so, but I'm sure this was one of the things that made it difficult to get much sleep after their EVA and before the ascent.