mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) (01/24/91)
The current issue of the science-oriented tabloid _Weekly_World_News_ carries an article with what is purported to be a transcript of the conversations in the Challenger between the explosion and the impact several minutes later -- the tape which Nasa successfully kept secret for the years since the explosion. WWN is well-known for fabricating much of their own news and distorting the rest in a sensational fashion. The transcript reads like I would expect it to read if it was the real thing, and I'm wondering whether there is any possibility that it might be genuine.
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (01/25/91)
In article <38406@cup.portal.com> mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes: >The current issue of the science-oriented tabloid _Weekly_World_News_ >carries an article with what is purported to be a transcript of the >conversations in the Challenger between the explosion and the impact... >... I'm wondering whether >there is any possibility that it might be genuine. I'd be very surprised. As far as I know, there were no battery-powered recorders running aboard. The cabin voice recorders run off the orbiter power system, which was lost during the breakup. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) (01/25/91)
In article <9947@orca.wv.tek.com> bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >So, what does it say? --- WARNING --- This may make you very sad. I sure was. Nevertheless, I think it needs to be posted. Hit 'n' now if you would rather not hear... NASA's account of tapes made during the ill-fated Challenger mission ends with pilot Michael Smith saying "uh-oh" one minute, 13 seconds into the flight. Here is the rest: the suppressed transcript of the crew's last minutes, captured on Christa McAuliffe's personal cassette recorder and recovered from the shattered crew cabin. The sex of the speaker is indicated by M or F. T+1:15 (M): What happened? What happened? Oh God, no -- no! T+1:17 (F): Oh dear God. T+1:18 (M): Turn on your air pack! Turn on your air... T+1:20 (M): Can't breathe... choking... T+1:21 (M): Lift up your visor! T+1:22 (M/F): (Screams). It's hot. (sobs). I can't. Don't tell me... God! Do it now! T+1:24 (M): I told them... I told them... Dammit! Resnik don't... T+1:27 (M): Take it easy! Move (unintelligible)... T+1:28 (F): Don't let me die like this. Not now. Not here... T+1:31 (M): Your arm:... no... I (extended garble, static). T+1:36 (F): I'm... passing... out... T+1:37 (M): We're not dead yet. T+1:40 (M): If you ever wanted (unintelligible) me a miracle... (unintelligible)... (screams). T+1:41 (M): She's... she's... (garble)... Damn! T+1:50 (M): Can't breathe... T+1:51 (M/F): (Scream). Jesus Christ! No! T+1:54 (M): She's out. T+1:55 (M): Lucky... (unintelligible). T+1:56 (M): God. The water... we're dead! (Screams). T+2:00 (F): Goodbye (sobs)... I love you. I love you... T+2:03 (M): Loosen up... loosen up... T+2:07 (M): It'll be just like a ditch landing... T+2:09 (M): That's right. Think positive. T+2:11 (M): Ditch procedure... T+2:14 (M): No way! T+2:17 (M): Give me your hand... T+2:19 (M): You awake in there? I... I... T+2:29 (M): Our father... (unintelligible)... T+2:42 (M):... hallowed be Thy name... (unintelligible) T+2:57 (M): You... over there? T+2:58 (M): The Lord is my shepherd, I shall... not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... I will dwell in the house... T+3:15 to end (None): Static. Silence.
bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) (01/25/91)
In article <38406@cup.portal.com> mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes:
->The transcript reads like I would expect it to read if it was the
->real thing, and I'm wondering whether there is any possibility that it
->might be genuine.
So, what does it say?
--
Bill McFadden Tektronix, Inc. P.O. Box 500 MS 58-639 Beaverton, OR 97077
bill@videovax.tv.tek.com, {hplabs,uw-beaver,decvax}!tektronix!videovax!bill
Phone: (503) 627-6920 "SCUD: Shoots Crooked, Usually Destroyed"yetsko@interlan.interlan.com (Mike Yetsko) (01/25/91)
In article <1991Jan24.192723.13175@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: Path: interlan.InterLan.COM!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Date: 24 Jan 91 19:27:23 GMT References: <38406@cup.portal.com> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology Lines: 13 In article <38406@cup.portal.com> mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson) writes: >The current issue of the science-oriented tabloid _Weekly_World_News_ >carries an article with what is purported to be a transcript of the >conversations in the Challenger between the explosion and the impact... >... I'm wondering whether >there is any possibility that it might be genuine. I'd be very surprised. As far as I know, there were no battery-powered recorders running aboard. The cabin voice recorders run off the orbiter power system, which was lost during the breakup. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry There were at least TWO personal tape recorders operating durring the launch. One was for the purpose of taking notes on perceptions of the launch to play back durring the broadcast to students. This was made very clear before the launch, and when the cabin was recovered, the tapes were reported as both destroyed and turned over to family as person effects. I'm sure that if recovered at all, they probably had more intense scrutiny than any spy tape in history. Mike Yetsko InterLan
gt6337a@prism.gatech.EDU (Niel M. Bornstein) (01/26/91)
In article <73191734@bfmny0.BFM.COM> tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes: >In article <9947@orca.wv.tek.com> bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >>So, what does it say? >Here is the rest: the suppressed transcript of the crew's last minutes, I'm no psychologist (though I do have a BS in Applied Psychology), but this reads to me more like a movie script than an actual transcript. I am extremely doubtful about the validity of this 'transcript'. I can't back it up, but it just sounds wrong. Everything you'd expect to hear is in there. The whole thing smacks of the kind of conspiracy you'd expect in tabloids like the Weekly World News. Niel -- * Niel M. Bornstein gt6337a@prism.gatech.edu * * Even if I understood the opinions of Georgia Tech, I couldn't explain them. * We are destroying art by destroying the beautiful in life. -- Kakuzo Okakura
yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) (01/26/91)
Personally, I'm rather skeptical -- considering that this is the same illustrious journal which regularly publishes stories about vampire babies and statues of Elvis on Mars. If this transcript had been published in the New York Times or the Washington Post, I might believe it -- after all, if you were going to leak this stuff, would you choose a supermarket tabloid? -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Brian Yamauchi University of Rochester yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu Computer Science Department _______________________________________________________________________________
clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) (01/26/91)
In article <1991Jan25.162510.9542@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>, pjs@euclid (Peter Scott) writes: >In article <73191734@bfmny0.BFM.COM>, tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes: >> In article <9947@orca.wv.tek.com> bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >> >So, what does it say? >> >> --- WARNING --- >> >> This may make you very sad. I sure was. > >You were right; so was I. What makes it even more saddening is >not knowing whether or not this is true. What happened is a tragedy, whether or not the WWN got the story right (I wouldn't bet on them having gotten it right). It's not necessary to know exactly what went on in the crew cabin to feel very sad about that. > But I think we both know that if they survived the >break-up, this is the kind of thing that would have happened. The medical report done by Joe Kerwin makes it clear that the disintegration of the Challenger was eminently survivable, and that, judging from three of the four air packs examined, at least some of the crew survived until impact. I believe he concluded they probably lost consciousness during the crew cabin's ascent and he does not speculate as to whether any of them regained consciousness during the descent. I don't presume to know what would have happened in the crew cabin if the crew remained conscious. The important things to know about the failure are why it occurred, how can a recurrence be prevented, and what to do if it reoccurs. >Not speaking for NASA. | Peter Scott, NASA/JPL/Caltech > | (pjs@euclid.jpl.nasa.gov) Probably the most apt use of a disclaimer I have ever seen. -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {world,uunet,harvard}!ksr!clj
freed@nss.FIDONET.ORG (Bev Freed) (01/26/91)
To believe that a personal cassette recorder could have recorded all members assumes too much. McAuliffe was on the lower deck Resnik was on the flight deck. Inter-crew communications are via helmets (from what I understand of ascent and reentry). A personal tape recorder would NOT have picked up any remark to Resnik. To believe the validity of such a recording, one would have to assume that orbiter communications were active and that they had power to function. I don't think so. --- Opus-CBCS 1.14 * Origin: NSS BBS - Ad Astra! (412)366-5208 *HST* (1:129/104.0) -- Bev Freed - via FidoNet node 1:129/104 UUCP: ...!pitt!nss!freed INTERNET: freed@nss.FIDONET.ORG
tml@druhi.ATT.COM (Tim Larison) (01/27/91)
I saw this transcript in the National Enquirer, too. Knowing the National Enquirer's standard for journalism, I would tend to be skeptical of the authenticity of the transcript. I'd also be skeptical because the 5 year anniversary of the Challenger accident is this week. Perhaps publishing the transcript is the National Enquirer's way to spur magazine sales because the Challenger accident will be in the news anyway. It also seems strange that only Male and Female voices are identified. It seems that the paper would be more open to lawsuits if they identified who said what. I'm sure if a real recording existed, that they could identify which astronaut was speaking. I believe that there could be a real recording of the astronauts' last minutes, but I would tend to doubt that this is it. Tim Larison att!druhi!tml
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (01/27/91)
In article <20352@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt6337a@prism.gatech.EDU (Niel M. Bornstein) writes: >I'm no psychologist (though I do have a BS in Applied Psychology), but this >reads to me more like a movie script than an actual transcript. I am >extremely doubtful about the validity of this 'transcript'. Me too. To put it bluntly, it's all wrong. For one thing, there *is* no "ditch procedure" for an orbiter: ditching one is 100% fatal, because the orbiter is too fragile to survive. (I have seen the flight plan for STS-1, which had ejection seats for Young and Crippen, and the procedures for all situations leading to water impact end in "EJECT".) For another, the characters are obviously Hollywood actors, not test pilots and other trained astronauts. Even discounting extensive training that emphasizes coping pragmatically with emergencies rather than shouting tearjerking sentiments as death approaches, the fact is that even untrained people mostly react much more calmly and practically to such situations than Hollywood thinks. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (01/27/91)
In article <1901@ksr.com> clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) writes: >The medical report done by Joe Kerwin makes it clear that the disintegration of >the Challenger was eminently survivable, and that, judging from three of the >four air packs examined, at least some of the crew survived until impact. I >believe he concluded they probably lost consciousness during the crew cabin's >ascent and he does not speculate as to whether any of them regained >consciousness during the descent. First part correct; second part slightly wrong. Kerwin's team was unable to establish whether the cabin held pressure after the orbiter's breakup, and the report's language is painstakingly neutral about this. *If* the cabin held pressure, it is likely the astronauts were conscious all the way down. If it didn't, the known behavior of hypoxia makes it almost certain that they were unconscious within seconds and stayed that way until impact. Either way, cause of death was the water impact. That's as far as the report goes. In my opinion, one can catch a faint hint that the team thought the cabin was unlikely to hold pressure. For example, that would require that none of the windows break and none of the damage done by the breakup breach pressure integrity. But the cabin was so smashed up by the water impact that no definitive finding was possible. In any case, apart from ghoulish curiosity, it is not really very important whether the crew were conscious or not. Much is made of how awful it would have been for them, to the point where this has figured in lawsuits, but I for one would prefer to spend the last few minutes of my life conscious. I conjecture that they would mostly agree, although it is no longer possible to ask them. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) (01/28/91)
I'm not necessarily defending the WWN, but a few points may not be clear to readers of this thread. * This was considerably more elaborate than their normal "talking cactus" treatments. It was a four page spread with sidebars, diagrams and photographs. I have not typed in the articles but I probably will: net readers should make their own decisions about the contents. * WWN is definitely a "family" rag, so if there WERE expletives in the original tape, WWN might easily have deleted them. Of course the Times or WPost would do so more responsibly, inserting "[expletive]" at the appropriate points. But they don't have tapes. * The article repeatedly refers to a "pieced together" account, and mentions that "several" crew members carried personal cassette recorders (PCRs). Later, McAuliffe's recorder is explicitly described as having been found, but it doesn't say hers was the ONLY one. I agree that it would be difficult, for instance, for Christa's PCR (on the middeck) to capture what Resnik was saying up on the flight deck, or what Smith and/or Scobee were saying to her as she passed out. But if several PCRs were involved, their complementary contents might indeed be "pieced together" to produce a single, possibly incomplete transcript. * Why would a disreputable rag like WWN end up with this, rather than major, responsible organs like the NY Times? One possibility is that, simply because the big guys WERE so responsible about it and tried to go through the courts to force NASA to release what it had, their hands were tied: even if someone walked in the front door with a satchel of tapes and transcripts, they couldn't publish them without risking contempt of court! The other point is money. Assume some staffer-geek made a few extracurricular visits to the Xerox machine one weekend. Who'll pay him the MOST for his scoop? * Is there too little NASA-jock lingo present for this to be real? Maybe. If I were the WWN editor I might unscrupulously delete anything that sounded too technical for my readers, or that I couldn't understand myself. There are several multi-second pauses in the WWN version that would be hard to explain in a real crisis cockpit full of conscious astronauts. Again, I'm not defending WWN's integrity here (tough decision :-); rather, I'm trying to evaluate this as source material. * Why would someone say 'ditch procedure' when (as we think) no such thing exists for the shuttle? Perhaps because the person talking, besides staring his death in the face, was trying to soothe his scared crewmates by implying that it'd be just like a fighter plane ditch. The "No way!" immediately following suggests that someone wasn't going for it. * I have to believe that the whole experience for people strapped into the middeck as helpless passengers would be a lot different from that of the pilot, commander and other flight deck personnel. It strikes me as unrealistic to expect all seven people, including a satellite engineer and a schoolteacher, to behave on cue as the competent, steely-eyed stoics of NASA myth. ------------ Personally and for what it's worth, I would rather think of them going out to the 23rd Psalm than a checklist anyway...
yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) (01/29/91)
In article <57477530@bfmny0.BFM.COM> tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes:
* Why would a disreputable rag like WWN end up with this, rather than
major, responsible organs like the NY Times? One possibility is
that, simply because the big guys WERE so responsible about it and
tried to go through the courts to force NASA to release what it had,
their hands were tied: even if someone walked in the front door with
a satchel of tapes and transcripts, they couldn't publish them
without risking contempt of court!
No, it was the other way around. The courts decided that it was *not*
illegal for NASA to *withhold* the transcripts. This is not the same
as saying it *would* have been illegal for the news media to *publish*
them. (In fact, the latter decision would probably be unconstitutional.)
Of course, the person providing the transcripts might have acquired
them illegally -- but that's a different issue.
The other point is money. Assume
some staffer-geek made a few extracurricular visits to the Xerox
machine one weekend. Who'll pay him the MOST for his scoop?
How about Time (a division of the multibillion-dollar Time-Warner
media/entertainment conglomerate), NBC (a division of the
multibillion-dollar multinational General Electric corporation), CNN
(a division of the multibillion-dollar Turner Broadcasting Empire),
ABC, CBS, Newsweek... you get the idea.
I would bet that, for a scoop like this, any one of the major media
outlets would pay orders of magnitude more money than would a cheap
supermarket tabloid.
The tabloids *do* have one advantage over the major news suppliers --
they can make the stories up as they go along...
Personally and for what it's worth, I would rather think of them going
out to the 23rd Psalm than a checklist anyway...
I don't know... I remember a quote from an interview Cronkite had
with Armstrong before the Apollo 11 launch. Cronkite told the crew to
suppose the LEM ascent engine failed to fire, and they were trapped on
the moon with only a hour's oxygen. He then asked them how they would
spend their last hour.
Armstrong's answer: "I suppose we'd spend that hour trying to fix
that engine..."
--
_______________________________________________________________________________
Brian Yamauchi University of Rochester
yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu Computer Science Department
_______________________________________________________________________________yetsko@interlan.interlan.com (Mike Yetsko) (01/29/91)
In article <YAMAUCHI.91Jan28235807@heron.cs.rochester.edu> yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) writes:
I don't know... I remember a quote from an interview Cronkite had
with Armstrong before the Apollo 11 launch. Cronkite told the crew to
suppose the LEM ascent engine failed to fire, and they were trapped on
the moon with only a hour's oxygen. He then asked them how they would
spend their last hour.
Armstrong's answer: "I suppose we'd spend that hour trying to fix
that engine..."
--
I read in one of the astronauts books that something like this DID
happen. Maybe it was Armstong. Anyway, on getting ready to leave the
lunar surface they discovered the circuit breaker that powers the
engine circuits was smashed. Evidently they banged it with one of the
lunar packs in all their moving around. They ended up jamming the
breaker on by hammering in a ball point pen. Wonder if it was a
BIC, and how the BIC people feel about it?
Mike Yetsko
InterLansheppard@caen.engin.umich.edu (Ken Sheppardson) (01/30/91)
>I can't back it up, but it just sounds wrong. Everything you'd expect to >hear is in there. The whole thing smacks of the kind of conspiracy you'd >expect in tabloids like the Weekly World News. For those of you who aren't familiar with this fine publication, here are a few of the headlines from the issue in question: "Chilling account of doomed astronauts' final minutes...Never before published!...LAST WORDS OF CHALLENGER CREW!...At last! The secret tape NASA doesn't want you to hear" -- Front Cover "Saddam's toilet booby-trapped: PO'd plumbers rig Iraqi palace potty to blow up when he sits down" -- Inside front cover "PRO WRESTLER TALKED BUSH INTO SENDING TROOPS TO SAUDI ARABIA!...Is Ric Flair running the White House ?...'Kick Saddam Hussein's butt,' Nature Boy tells President" -- pg. 1 "I went to bed with Saddam...XXX-rated starlet woos Iraqi for peace-- but romance turns sour...'He's covered with hair!'" "I had a baby thanks to VOODOO!" "Space aliens want our wiskey, water, and women!" "Dying man's bizarre last request -- car parts catalog !" ...I think you get the picture. I'll stick to AW&ST, thanks. -- =============================================================================== Ken Sheppardson Email: kcs@sso.larc.nasa.gov Space Station Freedom Advanced Programs Office Phone: (804) 864-7544 NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton VA FAX: (804) 864-1975 ===============================================================================
ward@tsnews.Convergent.COM (Ward Griffiths) (01/30/91)
yetsko@interlan.interlan.com (Mike Yetsko) writes: >I read in one of the astronauts books that something like this DID >happen. Maybe it was Armstong. Anyway, on getting ready to leave the >lunar surface they discovered the circuit breaker that powers the >engine circuits was smashed. Evidently they banged it with one of the >lunar packs in all their moving around. They ended up jamming the >breaker on by hammering in a ball point pen. Wonder if it was a >BIC, and how the BIC people feel about it? This would have been right about the time when BIC was switching over from the all-metal tips that they used to strap to ice skates and shoot through planks, to the modern tiny bit of metal in a plastic cone. (Remember when you could unfreeze a BIC by sticking its point in a lighter flame?) So I'd hope it was the old style. But wait a minute, wasn't it Fischer that made the official "Space Pen"? With the 50psi of nitrogen pushing the ink out of the tip at any angle? -- Ward Griffiths, Unisys NCG aka Convergent Technologies The people that make Unisys' official opinions get paid more. A LOT more. =========================================================================== To Hell with "Only One Earth"! Try "At Least One Solar System"! If I say love, I'll sound sentimental, and if I say sex, I'll sound cynical. I'll call it pair bonding and sound scientific. The Golden Apple
bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) (01/30/91)
In article <57477530@bfmny0.BFM.COM> tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes: >I'm not necessarily defending the WWN, but a few points may not be clear >to readers of this thread. > > * This was considerably more elaborate than their normal "talking cactus" > treatments. It was a four page spread with sidebars, diagrams and > photographs. I have not typed in the articles but I probably will: > net readers should make their own decisions about the contents. The above is a self-defeating argument, if the WWN, by throwing in a few sidebars, diagrams etc validates the story in your mind then indeed the WWN has the incentive to provide such visual aids. It is like those cough medicine commercials that show piles of cerlox-binded documents labeled "clinical study"....if you buy that then....hey what can I say. > > * WWN is definitely a "family" rag, so if there WERE expletives in the > original tape, WWN might easily have deleted them. Of course the > Times or WPost would do so more responsibly, inserting "[expletive]" > at the appropriate points. But they don't have tapes. > > * The article repeatedly refers to a "pieced together" account, and > mentions that "several" crew members carried personal cassette > recorders (PCRs). Later, McAuliffe's recorder is explicitly > described as having been found, but it doesn't say hers was the ONLY > one. I agree that it would be difficult, for instance, for Christa's > PCR (on the middeck) to capture what Resnik was saying up on the > flight deck, or what Smith and/or Scobee were saying to her as she > passed out. But if several PCRs were involved, their complementary > contents might indeed be "pieced together" to produce a single, > possibly incomplete transcript. > > * Why would a disreputable rag like WWN end up with this, rather than > major, responsible organs like the NY Times? One possibility is > that, simply because the big guys WERE so responsible about it and > tried to go through the courts to force NASA to release what it had, > their hands were tied: even if someone walked in the front door with > a satchel of tapes and transcripts, they couldn't publish them > without risking contempt of court! The other point is money. Assume > some staffer-geek made a few extracurricular visits to the Xerox > machine one weekend. Who'll pay him the MOST for his scoop? What can I say....just perhaps.....perhaps....WWN made this up. After all I don't think Elvis is alive because the NY Times hasn't been "scooped" by the WWN on that story. > * Is there too little NASA-jock lingo present for this to be real? > Maybe. If I were the WWN editor I might unscrupulously delete > anything that sounded too technical for my readers, or that I > couldn't understand myself. There are several multi-second pauses in > the WWN version that would be hard to explain in a real crisis > cockpit full of conscious astronauts. Again, I'm not defending WWN's > integrity here (tough decision :-); rather, I'm trying to evaluate > this as source material. > > * Why would someone say 'ditch procedure' when (as we think) no such > thing exists for the shuttle? Perhaps because the person talking, > besides staring his death in the face, was trying to soothe his > scared crewmates by implying that it'd be just like a fighter plane > ditch. The "No way!" immediately following suggests that someone > wasn't going for it. > > * I have to believe that the whole experience for people strapped into > the middeck as helpless passengers would be a lot different from that > of the pilot, commander and other flight deck personnel. It strikes > me as unrealistic to expect all seven people, including a satellite > engineer and a schoolteacher, to behave on cue as the competent, > steely-eyed stoics of NASA myth. No but as someone pointed out earlier most humans are rather resigned in moments before death. People are more emotional when there fate is undecided. Once their fate is clear they usually are rather reflective. Evidence?..... execusions, cockpit recordings (usually just a curse or two). To expect volumes of screams from the crew is not realistic. My final point is this. The very fact that we can attempt to validate or invalidate this story proves that it is possible to fabricate this. Given that I choose to wait for specific confirmation from NASA if any ever comes. Proof positive. Not some lousy rag. > >------------ > >Personally and for what it's worth, I would rather think of them going >out to the 23rd Psalm than a checklist anyway...
blloyd@axion.bt.co.uk (Brian Lloyd) (01/30/91)
From article <YETSKO.91Jan29094016@interlan.interlan.com>, by yetsko@interlan.interlan.com (Mike Yetsko): > In article <YAMAUCHI.91Jan28235807@heron.cs.rochester.edu> yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) writes: > I don't know... I remember a quote from an interview Cronkite had > with Armstrong before the Apollo 11 launch. Cronkite told the crew to > suppose the LEM ascent engine failed to fire, and they were trapped on > the moon with only a hour's oxygen. He then asked them how they would > spend their last hour. > > Armstrong's answer: "I suppose we'd spend that hour trying to fix > that engine..." > -- > > I read in one of the astronauts books that something like this DID > happen. Maybe it was Armstong. Anyway, on getting ready to leave the > lunar surface they discovered the circuit breaker that powers the > engine circuits was smashed. Evidently they banged it with one of the > lunar packs in all their moving around. They ended up jamming the > breaker on by hammering in a ball point pen. Wonder if it was a > BIC, and how the BIC people feel about it? > > Mike Yetsko > InterLan It was made by Fisher. If you buy one of their Space Pens (as used on Apollo missions, writes upside down and under water!?) you should find that it is accompanied by a leaflet saying how good the pen is, and how one of them helped to bring Apollo 11 back. Brian Lloyd blloyd@axion.bt.co.uk
john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (02/05/91)
In article <1672@ether.UUCP> kellym@ether.UUCP (Kelly M McArthur) writes: > If you still have any concerns about WWN posessing any journalistic > veracity whatsoever, here are a few headlines from the issue in question > and recent issues: > > World War II Bomber Found on Moon! As a warbird fan, I think that a WWII bomber is definitly worth going after and trying to recover, expecially if it is one of the relatively rare birds, like a B-24. Is it in good shape? Would aluminum deteriorate on the Moon? I think NASA just found its long sought after "direction"... lets go get that puppy! -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john ===============================================================================