Wednesday, April 17, 2024

One Solid Door/Hatch

 


8 comments:

  1. Hatch is the opening. Hatch cover is the door/cover plate.
    North American Rockwell made that.

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    1. Back when engineers with some common sense (most all of them white and male, BTW) realized that the vacuum of space has no sense of humor.

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  2. There's a replica of the Apollo 8 capsule aboard the USS Yorktown at Patriot's Point in Charleston SC. You can't get inside it but it's definitely NOT for the claustrophobic. You used to be able to tour the inside of the submarine USS Clamatore before it was closed, also not recommended for those with confined space issues.
    - WDS

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  3. The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson ,Kansas has several capsules on display. As stated above, they were not built for those with claustrophobia. The capsule that Grissom was in ,"Liberty Bell" was fished out of the Atlantic. It's been preserved and is on display there. The Russian capsules are death traps.

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    1. Picture of the Liberty Bell:

      https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/body_large/public/2021-07/Wright%5B66%5D.jpg?itok=YqUviWpo

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  4. That's the re-designed hatch, after the Apollo 1 fire killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. They couldn't open the capsule, with the original hatch design, in time before the fumes killed them. The above hatch is solid, but could be opened much faster.

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    1. Point of Order:
      The Apollo 1 fire didn't kill the astronauts with fumes. It happened in a 100% oxygen environment. Everything and everyone inside was burned alive in seconds. They didn't have time to be overcome before they were done to a toasty crisp.
      The guys on the headsets at launch control said they could hear the astronauts' screams (before they lost comms) in their nightmares for years afterwards.

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    2. Not JUST 100% oxy, but pressurized above sea level to simulate orbital conditions, IIRC. Either ~5 lbs or a full atmo above. I can't recall which pressure they selected, but I think it was the approx 5 lbs added to atmo, 14.7 lbs. Almost anything will burn in a ~20 lb pressure atmosphere of pure oxy.

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