Re: In Defense of NASA's New Direction (Long)



Dave Michelson wrote:

You might want to become aware of some of Bob Gilruth's comments
regarding this that came out in the late 80's and early 90's. At the
time, he was apparently very concerned that Apollo's luck couldn't run
forever and that a fatal accident was inevitable. He very much favoured
shutting down Apollo earlier rather than later.

While he didn't control the budget, it is nevertheless strong stuff to
come from the the MSC Director.

Sooner or later it would have caught up with us, as Apollo 13 sure made obvious.
It was an inherently risky mission.
I don't know how far the concept got, but the thing that always impressed me as asking for trouble was that rocket-powered lunar flying vehicle the astronauts were supposed to cruise around in on later missions.
Did anyone ever figure out what caused that damage to the back of the LM ascent stage that was visible after rendezvous on one Apollo mission (I forget which one)

Pat
.

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