Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing July 31st 1969 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER HOUSTON, TEXAS APOLLO 11 - Technical Crew Debriefing NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing July 31st 1969 MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER HOUSTON, TEXAS Contents Section Page 1.0 Suiting and Ingress 7 2.0 Status Checks and Countdown 9 3.0 Powered Flight 10 4.0 Eart Orbit and Systems Checkout 16 5.0 TLI through S-IVB Closeout 20 6.0 Translunar Coast 26 7.0 LOI through Lunar Module Activation 38 8.0 Lunar Module Checkout through Separation 45 8.1 Command Module 45 8.2 Lunar Module 48 9.0 DOI through Touchdown 54 9.1 Command Module 54 9.2 Lunar Module 55 10.0 Lunar Surface 63 11.0 CSM Circumlunar Operations 84 12.0 Lift-Off, Rendezvous and Docking 86 13.0 Lunar Module Jettison through TEI 98 14.0 Transearth Coast 101 15.0 Entry 108 16.0 Landing and Recovery 111 17.0 Geology and Experiments 115 18.0 Command Module Systems Operations 116 18.1 Guidance and Navigation 116 18.4 Reaction Control System 116 18.5 Electrical Power System 116 18.6 Environmental Control System 117 18.7 Telecommunications 119 18.8 Mechanical 120 19.0 Lunar Module Systems Operations 121 19.1 Guidance and Navigation 121 19.2 Propulsion System 121 19.3 Reaction Control System 122 19.4 Electrical Power System 122 19.5 Environmental Control System 122 19.6 Telecommunications 122 20.0 Miscellaneous Systems, Flight Equipment and GFE 123 21.0 Visual Sightings 125 22.0 Premission Planning 126 23.0 Mission Control 128 24.0 Training 129 25.0 Human Factors 144 26.0 Miscellaneous 151 27.0 Concluding Comments 153 5 APOLLO 11 - Technical Crew Debriefing 1.0 SUITING AND INGRESS 1.1 SENSOR APPLICATION Aldrin The center lead dried out in flight. I was shaved in that area, but it dried out anyway. The one on my right chest,must have interfered in some way with the suit,because when the suit was taken off, there was a small laceration on the outside toward the rear of that particular sensor. I think that's been documented in the medical examination. 1.2 SUITING Aldrin We seemed to have plenty of pad in the time frame for suiting.We were sitting around suited up at least 20 minutes before moving out to the pad Armstrong We had a reasonable amount of pad time to handle the little problems you might have at time.The timeline on suiting was good 1.3 LIFE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT Collins No problem with life support equipment or transportation out to the pad. 1.6 PERSONAL COMFORT Collins The only personal comfort problem I had was that my suit fit was too tight through in the region of the UCD.During CDDT,I was really very,very uncomfortable for a couple of hours with the UCD pushing into me. This problem goes back to that first suit fit at the factory. ILC is very concerned abut the mobility inside a pressurized suit,and I think they went a little bit overboard in cutting that thing on the tight side.I didn't really put the UCD on;you know what I mean.They've got a house UCD up there, and you sort of slap that inside the suit and then you get a fit check. The only time it hurt me was when I actually had the UCD securely held and I was strapped into the couch and my legs were up. The only thing I could suggest is that when anybody goes to the factory,they take their own UCD and put the damn thing on and,during that fit check,go through some kind of an imitation of the watch position with the correct leg-to-body angle which you have in that couch for launch position. Put your own UCD on and see whether that's going to be comfortable or not.I fiddled and diddled with it between CDDT and launch,and it was still fairly uncomfortable for launch;for CDDT,that damn thing almost did me in.Don't let them cut the suit too tight,and try to get a good fit check at the factory. 1.5 ELEVATOR AND FLIGHT DECK Aldrin From the center-couch position,it's a very pleasant time period because I'd sit in the elevator and walk around up there on the flight deck and contemplate just about everything, including the outside world.CDDT was a very pleasurable experience,looking out over the whole beach. 1.8 INGRESS Armstrong While we were completing the countdown procedures,the number 2 rotation hand controller was raised to the launch position. At that point, it somehow managed to attach itself the shock attenuator release on the lower left strut. It released after a good bit of work and coordination between Mike and Fred,the BCMP.It was re-locked.No new procedure there,it just requires care 7 APOLLO 11 - Technical Crew Debriefing and properly installing those handrests to avoid a recurrence of that problem.It would be well for the BCMP to assure himself that he knows how to re-lock any one of the strut releases that might come disengaged in this time period. Collins The crew should know about the strut softeners just in case one of them gets pulled loose inadvertently in flight. You should know how to reset them. This should be added to their list of things to learn. Aldrin I don't feel that we really need life preservers on for launch.They interfere with what little mobility you have. It appears to me that in any abort condition you don't need to make use of the life preservers and that it would be a fairly simple thing to get them out of the little pouches that are in the L-shaped bag. 1.10 COMFORT IN COUCH Armstrong Temperature was good in our spacecraft during both CDDT and launch.I didn't suffer any of the abnormally low temperature conditions that had been reported on some of the previous flights. Collins The reason was that we were flowing glycol through the secondary loop.I believe this was the first time they tried this. The secondary glycol loop pump was on and it was flowing through the suit circuit heat exchanger.I dont't know what Apollo 10 did,but I remember Apollo 9 described this deal of going bypass on the heat exchanger for 15 seconds and all that.We didn't have to mess with that at all.Our procedure worked very well.I don't know who thought it up to use the secondary loop,but it made the system very comfortable,and I recommend that they continue to do it the way we did it. 1.12 VIBRATION OR NOISE SENSATIONS Collins They called out everything.Every time we were going to feel something,they were very good about calling it up. Aldrin We did observe some booster valving.They called it out,and it was quite obvious when there was valving taking place. 8