When Scott tried to release the lunar module, he did not hold the button long enough so the lander got hung on the capture latches.

The post An Encore Presentation of Space Rocket History #183 – Apollo 9 – Lunar Module Maneuvers Part 4 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Cronkite did not look good. He called Schirra over and thrust a sheet of wire-service copy at him. Schirra scanned the text hurriedly, and with each sentence his heart sank. This was bad. This was worse than bad. This was … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #270 – Apollo 13 – The News Breaks first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

EECOM, Sy Liebergot looked away from his monitor; the end, he knew, was at last here. Liebergot, through no fault of his own, was about to become the first flight controller in the history of the manned space program to … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #269 – Apollo 13 – “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” – Part 4 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

As near as Lovell could tell, it would be a while before the ship’s endgame would play out. He had no way of calculating the leak rate in the tank, but if the moving needle was any indication, he had … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #268 – Apollo 13 – “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” – Part 3 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

By the time Flight Director Kranz heard Lovell’s report, of “Houston, we’ve had a problem. ” three controllers had reported related problems. Kranz was wondering which problem Lovell was reporting, as he started relaying the long list of warning indications … Continue reading →

The post Space Rocket History #267 – Apollo 13 – “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” – Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Swigert: I believe we’ve had a problem here! CapComm: This is Houston. Say again, please. Lovell: Houston, we’ve had a problem.

The post Space Rocket History #266 – Apollo 13 – “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” – Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

As Lovell prepared for the thruster adjustments, Haise finished closing down the LEM and drifted through the tunnel back toward the command module and Swigert threw the switch to stir all 4 cryogenic tanks.

The post Space Rocket History #265 – Apollo 13 – Translunar Coast – The Calm Before the Storm first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Milt Windier’s team at mission control quickly reviewed the status of the remaining four engines, ran the computations for the new engine cutoff times, and passed them to the crew.

The post Space Rocket History #264 – Apollo 13 – Orbit, Translunar Injection, Docking, and Extraction first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

During the Apollo era, North American-Downey built the Apollo Command & Service Module. After each completed spacecraft, Nasa conducted formal reviews of the build paper work before each vehicle was accepted for flight.

The post Space Rocket History #263 – Apollo 13 – The Launch first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.