How an ordinary felt-tip pen saved astronauts' lives

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This July was the fiftieth anniversary of a truly landmark historic event - the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. To commemorate this event, NASA and other organizations have planned many special events - various exhibitions, meetings. But few know that the Apollo 11 mission might not have returned to Earth. Astronauts have taken their place in the history of mankind and science. What if things had turned out differently?

The Apollo 11 mission took place in 1969. Her goal was to land people on the moon and then return safely to Earth. The astronaut team consisted of three people: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. Neil Armstrong was the mission commander and the other two were pilots. Buzz Aldrin piloted the lunar module, and two interconnected spacecraft were launched and put into lunar orbit. Once everything was ready, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module. Then the module with the astronauts landed on the lunar surface. Armstrong said his historic phrase: "This is one small step for man and a giant leap for all mankind!"

Then Aldrin joined Armstrong and they spent two and a half hours on the surface of the planet. During this time, they collected soil samples for scientists. After everything was collected, photos and videos were made, the astronauts returned to the lunar module. Historian Robert Godwin studied old footage that NASA sent him several years ago. This 1969 film was full of dark shadows that made it difficult to see all the details. As Godwin watched the video, he could clearly identify the movements of the astronauts in the shadows. This was before Armstrong took the iconic photograph of Aldrin standing on the moon.

The moon landing, which was broadcast live, attracted approximately 530 million viewers from around the world, according to NBC. That's 27 times the audience that watched the final episode of Game of Thrones. The Apollo 11 mission was a real breakthrough in science and an object of deep global interest. It has been meticulously documented. Much of the footage and footage was used in the Apollo 11 documentary filmed this year to commemorate this historic event. yet Godwin succeeded. It was a revelation for him. Throughout his life, Robert Godwin studied this topic. He was a college professor, club owner and even the founder of his own music label. But his real passion was the history of space. Godwin has appeared on television several times and has written several books on the topic of space exploration. Much has been devoted to space mission reports, including Apollo 11. This provided other people with the opportunity to take a detached view not only of the Apollo 11 mission, but also of space exploration in general.

Buzz Aldrin has also written several books about the mission. In one of them, he described the story of their miraculous salvation. After all, it is always interesting when we are given a new understanding of events that happened a long time ago. Regardless of whether they are large or insignificant. Because this not only expands our understanding of history, but also makes it possible to teach us something new, to know more about ourselves and the world around us. After the first day of research on the Moon, the astronauts returned to the lunar module "Eagle". They dined on cocktail sausages and fruit punch, calmed down and tried to sleep. Since there were no beds or even seats, Aldrin chose the floor and Armstrong sat on the engine cover and raised the hammock so he could stretch his legs.

As Aldrin lay on the floor, contemplating the dust of the moon, he noticed something strange. There was no time to get a good night's sleep on the trip, so Buzz wasn't sure if he was imagining it. But focusing his sight on the object, Aldrin realized with horror that it was a circuit breaker that had somehow tripped. Aldrin searched the many switches on the circuit boards and soon discovered that it was a motor lever circuit breaker. This is the scheme that was supposed to turn on the lunar module in order to leave the moon and return to the orbital command module, piloted by the spacecraft Columbia. Buzz Aldrin knew immediately that this was a disaster.

To keep the lunar module as light as possible, only the most essential controls were covered. According to the story, the wiring, plumbing, and switches were exposed openly, in a cramped module. Several plans were developed if problems arose with the docking of the lunar module with Columbia. But there was no backup plan that the astronauts would not be able to leave the moon. They had no way to get to Columbia, and Collins had no way to get close enough to the moon to help. The broken switch was reported to Houston Control, who told Aldrin not to worry about it and get some rest. After spending about six hours in a cold enclosed module trying to sleep, they received a wake-up signal from Houston only to hear that the ground engineers hadn't come up with a solution for the switch. Aldrin studied the problem and concluded that if he could find something suitable for the hole left by the broken switch, it might help. Since the switch was electrical, Aldrin hesitated to use his finger or a metal tool, but he remembered that he had a felt-tip pen in his flight suit pocket. He used it to complete the circuit and it worked! Despite the fact that the chain was on, Aldrin and Armstrong were well aware that there could be no mistakes when lifting from the moon. It could cost them their lives. Collins couldn’t save them, and there was only a few hours of oxygen left.

As we all know from history, the lunar module was removed without a hitch and the astronauts were safely transported to Columbia and then back to Earth. This happened on July 24th. The astronauts were taken to the Pacific on the USS Hornet. According to Aldrin, he still keeps that switch and felt-tip pen. In memory that the irreparable could have happened. Sometimes even something as small as a simple felt-tip pen can help save lives. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum notes that while on the moon, the Apollo astronauts left a plaque signed by then President Nixon and Aldrin, Collins and Armstrong themselves. set foot on the moon. July 1969 new era. We come in peace on behalf of all mankind.”If you are interested in topics related to astronautics, read our article on the first person to walk into outer space. Based on materials