DSKY-DSKY Him Sad: Official ILB Thread For The Heroic Age of Manned Spaceflight

RIP Al Worden

I posted this on the obituary thread but it's worth reposting here. I love this story from Al's book

I extended the mass spectrometer on a large boom, trying to sniff out any hint of lunar atmosphere or escaping volcanic gas. Scientists particularly thought that areas of lunar sunrises and sunsets might concentrate stray gases. They would be extremely tenuous, and that is where we ran into trouble. The spectrometer mostly picked up particles that we brought from Earth. We'd strayed clouds of urine along our flight path all the way to the moon, and these urine dumps continued in lunar orbit. My frozen pee is probably sprinkled all over the moon. Add rocket engine exhaust, and it is no wonder our mass spectrometer had trouble finding anything else.

Thanks.

I remember reading a more academic discussion of the Apollo Missions that was somewhat dismissive of the “nose cone histories” aka the astronaut memoirs. I know Carrying the Fire is supposed to be the best but Al’s book was really good in lots of ways.

Folks who have this thread bookmarked should check out RetroSpace HD on YouTube. Lots of vintage footage up there that I haven't seen at all such as this, the Apollo 9 LEM docking sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke8R4zc18Kk

Not a book & i think it’s been mentioned itt already but if you get a chance I really recommend “For All Mankind”, Ron Moore’s series on Apple+

So much nerdy NASA/Apollo detail
INCLUDING: (spoiler) a fkn Sea Dragon launch in the final episode 😃

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Dragon_(rocket)

Michael Collins' Carrying The Fire is on sale in the various e-stores for $2.99 right now. Well worth reading,

I highly recommend this book, which I have owned in multiple formats, even though I haven’t properly read it yet/pvmic

https://youtu.be/LWLadJFI8Pk

Ah fuck, anyway, that's a deepfaked short film of Apollo XI failure with Nixon giving Saffire's dead astronauts speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/science/nasa-space-launch-system.html

Just watched In Event of Moon Disaster, thanks. So Michael Collins was able to crew the return trip all by his lonesome?

And RIP Michael Collins. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/science/michael-collins-third-man-of-the-moon-landing-dies-at-90.html. Hope things are going swimmingly on the FarOther Side.

well, shit

;_;

Time for an unofficial Carrying the Fire book club?

Too soon maybe

Found this interesting link through an ex-ILB0r whose significant other has the same name as the author: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/dear-columbia-apollo-11-astronaut-michael-collins

Well damnit if I haven't been completely sucked in by FOR ALL MANKIND. Despite the odd moment of cheesiness, it's just a lovely bit of reconstruction/extrapolation.

yeah it’s pretty great - i love the characters!

Having the dude from Patriot isn't hurting

I'm sure I have said this before, but anyone who is in this thread and hasn't read Jed Mercurio's ASCENT is really doing themselves a massive disservice.

I didn’t even know what that was, had to MC Serch it.

it's awesome.

I guess it’s streaming somewhere

Apple TV? Do people have that?

sorry I mean the book Ascent! haven't see the other thing

Yeah, thought that book was great too, the Kennedy one not so much.

the Michael Collins book is 99p in the Amazon daily deal in the UK today

The Moon: MISSION CONTROL: FIDO, GUIDO AND RETRO
Time Magazine interview with Chris Craft and company from August 1, 1969.

Maybe not really an interview.

oooh thx

“2.5 million bits” = 312.5 kilobytes

fkn wild

Don’t know where I should put so I am putting it here.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/jeff-bezos-flies-to-space-on-blue-origin-rocket

Jordan Bimm otm.

Here is his original article, with a slightly different, um, spin. https://www.barrons.com/articles/billionaires-space-flights-are-changing-the-arc-of-aerospace-history-51626735785

It is kind of interesting that Wally Funk just went up, but still…

Anyway seems there is already a thread dedicated to that topic, so as you were.

ILX, Tranquility Blecch here.

we’re breathin again

Everything’s going just swimmingly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZSuakXj8xI

Has anyone ever read Gene Kranz's book?

I have thought about reading it before, but was kind of put of by the title ;)

My new favorite term I learned from Gene Kranz is battle short or battleshort.

Put off not put of.

Maybe this has already been linked or you already know everything in it but still:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-03-mn-11574-story.html

that was a good one!! thx for sharing

i saw Gene’s Apollo 11 flight vest in the Air & Space museum when we visited, it was as cool as seeing Armstrong’s suit

also made me a little ;_; when i realized oh yeah that Neil was still alive when they wrote that

protect gene at all costs

never previously noticed the op, but i am now going to brag that i worked in a minneapolis bookstore with margaret lazarus dean 25 years ago

she was great but unfortunately my most visceral memory of her is being at a party at her house when her cat ran out into the street and was killed

: /

:(

.

fuuuuuuuuuck

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51uYTHpYv4L._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Anyone read this?