A lot of work is going into the subject contingency – with respect to:…
Category: Recovery
Transearth midcourse maneuvers are getting easier and cheaper all the time
On June 6 we had a Transearth Midcourse Maneuver Mission Techniques meeting at which we discussed implementation of the philosophy as described in my June 3 memo. The technique proposed, you recall, involves making a number of small RCS burns using the SCS, solely for the purpose of corridor control. I have discussed this with…
Apollo 13 Mission Techniques are in good shape
On December 5 we had what I expect to be our last full-blown Mission Techniques meeting for Apollo 13. This memo is to tell you about it….
C’ Mission Techniques
Attached are a list of ground rules and working agreements I compiled from my notes taken at the September 13 and 14 Mission Techniques meetings and the September 20 Lunar Abort meeting, all on the C’ mission. This list is far from complete. Basically, these items are only the changes and additions to the material…
Reentry guidance is perfect for S/C 101 regardless of L/D
This memorandum is in response to your question regarding the reentry guidance with low L/D. It was erroneously reported to you in the August 3 MPAD Weekly Activity Report that, although the program could be modified easily to handle L/D as low as 0.2, it probably would not be implemented for Spacecraft 101. Actually, some…
Let’s move the recovery force a little
Jerry, I’ve done a lot of joking about the spacecraft hitting the aircraft carrier, but the more I think about it the less I feel it is a joke. There are reports that the C Prime command module came down right over the aircraft carrier and drifted on its chutes to land 5,000 yards away….
“C” Mission Retrofire and Reentry Mission Techniques meeting
On Friday morning, July 19, we had a “C” Mission Retrofire and Reentry Mission Techniques meeting to clean up some open items. It is evident that a distribution of correction pages to our previously distributed Mission Techniques document will be inadequate and it is our current plan to republish the whole book. Some of the…
C’ Transearth Midcourse Correction (MCC) and Entry Mission Techniques
On September 13, we conducted a review of the Transearth MCC and Entry Mission Techniques for a lunar mission. Although, originally developed for an F or G type mission, the discussion was almost completely devoted to C’. Participation included all interested MSC organizations (including the C’ flight crew) as well as representatives from North American,…
Lunar Reentry Mission Techniques meeting – March 7
On March 7 we had a Data Priority Mission Techniques meeting on lunar reentry. This was the first on this mission phase with contractor participation. Our objective was to understand the current status of the business and to begin pinning down the operational procedures to be used onboard the spacecraft and on the ground. We…
Apollo 12 Mission Techniques
On September 15 and 16 we had the second (and last) Mission Techniques meeting for Apollo 12. It was advertised to be a “catchall” and it was. It all went smoothly enough considering how many people were there – the place was stuffed (even the projection room!) – and the exhaustion and emotion these things…