Relaunched Moonshot "The Journeys of the Saturn"

[brovane]

those Space Suits based on A7L of Apollo mission, only feature another entrance system like Shuttle space suits.
the Helmet had interesting safety feature: twin hull, if outside bubble is crack, the second inner bubble remains intact

the Original MOLAB was design with weight of 3810 kg and carry two men for 14 day mission on 1000 km round trip

brovane, got the crew of Apollo 22 any LFV on board ?

Yes, the MOLAB carries a LFV (Some assembly required) for a emergency return to the LESA base.

 

[Michel Van]

This section covers spacesuits more - https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=9483853&postcount=100

Interesting
in OTL NASA look into that problem also
they wanted Hard suit for later Apollo mission 18-20
and the contender for that was Garret AiResearch EX-1A Suit with 5 psi internal pressure.

Next for Space Shuttle and Space Station and Mars Mission needed a "emergency intra-vehicular activity" , What NASA label as IVA suit
This would feature a safer, more reliable, faster closing and lower leakage entry/closure system and
Also support reasonably rapid decompression from a 14.7 psi (1 atm) cabin pressure without risk of decompression sickness.

But in end NASA had to abandon the Plans
Apollo 18-20 got canceled, only the Shuttle would go into Low orbit and NASA naive belief the Shuttle is fail save...

 

[brovane]

Interesting
in OTL NASA look into that problem also
they wanted Hard suit for later Apollo mission 18-20
and the contender for that was Garret AiResearch EX-1A Suit with 5 psi internal pressure.

Next for Space Shuttle and Space Station and Mars Mission needed a "emergency intra-vehicular activity" , What NASA label as IVA suit
This would feature a safer, more reliable, faster closing and lower leakage entry/closure system and
Also support reasonably rapid decompression from a 14.7 psi (1 atm) cabin pressure without risk of decompression sickness.

But in end NASA had to abandon the Plans
Apollo 18-20 got canceled, only the Shuttle would go into Low orbit and NASA naive belief the Shuttle is fail save...

The main source of information that I used for spacesuits was this book U.S. SpaceSuits http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/144199565X/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It had lots of good information. The main problem with hard suits was that they don't work real well for take-off. It is not real good to be in acceleration couch with a hard suit part pulling 4+ G's during a launch. So that is why they went with the soft launch suit that is fairly simple for take-off and comfortable and the hard suits are only used in space.

 

[Dannyboy]

A nice bit of ending imagery there !

 

[su_liam]

Grey goo, a cracked helmet and the theme from Jaws. Scary. Nice characterization of the mission commander.

It looks like they're doing some real exploration and science up there. Every time I hear about how the Moon has,"already been done," and going back would just be rehashing old stuff I want to scream. How many field geologists would have a job if every patch of the Earth that had been gone over for a couple days, possibly by a trained geologist, were considered to be,"familiar?" It boggles the mind!

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

Yes, the MOLAB carries a LFV (Some assembly required) for a emergency return to the LESA base.

LFV?
Ah.

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/lfvrican.htm

OK. Didn't recognize the acronym.

 

[CANMAN]

Great chapter! I like how you not only concentrate on the major aspects of the mission but also minor "details" that we would expect on a real mission (e.g. Houston second guessing the astronauts decisions).

 

[brovane]

A nice bit of ending imagery there !

Thank you I appreciate the positive feedback.

Grey goo, a cracked helmet and the theme from Jaws. Scary. Nice characterization of the mission commander.

It looks like they're doing some real exploration and science up there. Every time I hear about how the Moon has,"already been done," and going back would just be rehashing old stuff I want to scream. How many field geologists would have a job if every patch of the Earth that had been gone over for a couple days, possibly by a trained geologist, were considered to be,"familiar?" It boggles the mind!

Thank you, based on my research I try to put some characters on the mission commanders. I try to get Pete Conrad as best as possible. Unfortunately he died before he could write his biography so a lot of the information is taken from 2nd hand sources. He had a rare blend of personality that wasn't found on a lot of the other Apollo mission commanders. Still cracks me up listening to the Apollo-12 launch - CSM onboard audio track. The crew is flying into orbit on the Saturn-V and they are laughing about how many warning lights the lightning strike caused. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31qt9jgtMMI

The entire Moon "has already been done" also gets me to. I ask those people how complete of picture would we get on the Geological history of North America if we landed in 6 different locations, walked around for several hours and left. If you look at it the Apollo-11,12 and 14 landing sites where not even that really explored considering the limited time and mobility they had. Only the Apollo 15,16,17 landing sites where explored in any detail.

LFV?

Ah.
OK. Didn't recognize the acronym.

I didn't recognize the acronym at first glance. I had to go back to my notes again for the lander load outs to verify what a LFV was before answering the original question. NASA has so many acronym's that it is confusing, especially when they are used more than once.

Great chapter! I like how you not only concentrate on the major aspects of the mission but also minor "details" that we would expect on a real mission (e.g. Houston second guessing the astronauts decisions).

I do try to bring in the smaller details of living on the lunar space and dealing with certain things. In Gene Cernan's book he took a certain amount of pleasure in hearing the banter back and forth between Houston and Jack Schmitt. Schmitt was trying to setup an experiment on the lunar surface and the scientist's back on Earth kept insisting he was setting it up correctly. Schmitt was getting a little frustrated with his colleagues back on Earth. It isn't as easy out in the field as the people back in Mission Control think it is.

 

[Dalriadan Archangel 21]

Brovane,

Any plans for MOBEV since they already have LFV?

Cheers

 

[brovane]

Brovane,

Any plans for MOBEV since they already have LFV?

Cheers

The actual LFV in this ATL is a two man LFV which is primarily intended as a emergency fly back vehicle in the event of MOLAB vehicle failure, not a one man LFV.

The MOBEV is a one-man vehicle or can act as a mule to carry equipment. The astronauts on the lunar surface for vehicle mobility have access to the MOLAB and the LRV. The LRV is a enhanced version of the Apollo J mission LRV. Some key enhancement is re-chargeable batteries and a trailer hitch. NASA has a fairly strict two-man policy, kind of like scuba diving for EVA's. I think the last NASA solo EVA was Buzz Aldrin in Gemini-12, if you discount Dave Scott's stand-up EVA during Apollo-15.

Every EVA has been a two man affair so the other person has support in case of issues. The importance of this was further validated during the July 2013 EVA water issue on the ISS. So the MOBEV in my opinion in this ATL is a solution looking for a problem. You are not going to have a solo US astronaut out on the lunar surface unless something has gone wrong. If the astronauts need to bring equipment with them to a site, they just use a LRV. In theory it would get better coverage to have two MOBEV's and the astronauts could explore a wider area, but NASA would never approve such a scenario because of two EVA considerations. That isn't to say the Soviet's wouldn't use such a vehicle like the MOBEV. They have already made use of lunar motorcycle to help facilitate movement across the lunar surface.

I appreciate the question but with how conservative NASA is, I don't see it being employed.

 

[Michel Van]

That must be Bell F2B from 1966

Surface to Surface capacity
eight thruster (differential throttling on lift thrusters)
multi launch and landing, with total range of 200 km
three axis attitude control system with internal guidance system
communications over S-Band of PLSS of space suits

 

[brovane]

That must be Bell F2B from 1966

Surface to Surface capacity
eight thruster (differential throttling on lift thrusters)
multi launch and landing, with total range of 200 km
three axis attitude control system with internal guidance system
communications over S-Band of PLSS of space suits

Yes it is, - I was looking for a two man LFV picture and this came up.

 

[Bernard Woolley]

Spent a good bit of this morning reading this in one sitting. Really wish I had read it when it first appeared.
Well done and I wish US space exploration had been more like this.

 

[brovane]

I apologize I have not posted anymore of the story. I have more to write but unfortunately right now family responsibilities and my work are not leaving me the time I need to write. I also need to focus over the next several months to study and attain my project management professional certification to further my career. I am going to have to put this story on hiatus for a time so I can focus on getting my PMP certification.

When I first started this ATL, which was my first attempt to write something like this I had no idea I would wind up with a story of over 100,000+ words. I appreciate all the feedback, suggestions and criticisms over the last year that I have been writing this. I haven't done this much writing in over a decade. I look forward to when my schedule allows me to devout time again to continuing this timeline. - Thanks Greg

 

[Dalriadan Archangel 21]

Bro,

We will be here waiting when you do.

Thanks for what you have so far provided.

Good luck with your PMP Cert.