13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle 13 Minutes to the Moon: 10. ‘For all mankind’
Jul 14, 2019
Guest
Bill Carpentier
Guest
Charlie Duke
Guest
George Abbey
Guest
Jim Lovell
Guest
John Aaron
Guest
Margaret Hamilton
Guest
Michael Collins
Guest
Poppy Northcutt
Guests on this episode include Apollo 11 astronaut Charlie Duke, pioneer of mission control Poppy Northcutt, former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center George Abbey, and more. They discuss topics such as radio static issues during the descent, communication challenges faced by mission control, the significance of the computer in the success of the mission, the tense final descent to the lunar surface, and Capcom Charlie Duke's desk on July 20th, 1969.
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Episode notes
Steve Bales' Crucial Role
- Steve Bales, guidance officer, first noticed Eagle was traveling too fast during the landing.
- At age 26, Bales earned respect for his critical real-time decisions guiding the descent.
1202 Alarm Explained
- The 1202 program alarm indicated the computer was overloaded by the additional task of running the rendezvous radar.
- This alarm was a sign of the finely balanced computer resource management during landing.
Getting Used to Alarms
- Armstrong and Aldrin got used to computer alarms and recognized 1202 as non-threatening over time.
- This reflected their learning and confidence with the lunar module's systems during descent.