neil armstrong and buzz aldrin were stranded on the moon

[watermelony2k]

well, no, they did come back. but if they had been unable to come back, nixon already had a speech ready:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Event_of_Moon_Disaster

In the case of such an event, the two astronauts would have been given a cut-off of communications from mission control so that they could die in peace or commit suicide (take off helmets?)

 

[TerriO]

Weren't those the days of the cyanide capsules in case the return capsule landed in Russian territory?

 

[cardinal biggles]

Very interesting article. I don't know why I should have been surprised; governments prepare for worst-case scenarios all the time. I'd also forgotten what a good writer Bill Safire is. I don't agree with him most of the time, but I always liked reading his column in the New York Times.

(And on a lighter note, I witnessed Wiki vandalism for the first time! Someone changed "conclude with the Lord's Prayer" to "conclude with goatse." )

 

[James Tiberius Kirk]

TerriOneirodynia said:
Weren't those the days of the cyanide capsules in case the return capsule landed in Russian territory?

That's actually false, astronauts have confirmed multiple times that they were never given "suicide pills"

 

[T'Bonz]

^
Perhaps they were told not to tell.

* *

Interesting read. I never thought about "What if they had been stranded?" although by Apollo 13, it was something that one had to consider.

 

[Mike Okuda]

No need for cyanide pills - all they'd have to do is open the window.

Before Apollo 11 was launched, a reporter asked Neil Armstrong what they'd do in their last minutes if they were stranded. He said they'd keep trying to fix their spacecraft.

 

[cardinal biggles]

I think Terri meant that they were given cyanide pills in case the CM landed in the Soviet Union rather than splashing in the ocean as planned.

 

[Zachary Smith]

cardinal biggles said:
I think Terri meant that they were given cyanide pills in case the CM landed in the Soviet Union rather than splashing in the ocean as planned.

Jeeze, this was a public space mission to the fricken' MOON, not a secret U2 overflight of Soviet missile bases. Cyanide capsules if the Command Module had landed in Soviet territory? How about the Soviets would have returned the astronauts unharmed after a debriefing (though they likely would have kept the space craft). We were in COMPTEITION with the Soviets for the goal of landing on the moon, for crying out loud--not at WAR with them over it!

 

[Deckerd]

I think the cyanide pill thing sounds like someone's been watching too much James Bond. I can't imagine the astronauts would have considered using them if they landed in the wrong country.

As to what if they'd been stranded - the quotation attributed to Neil Armstrong sounds absolutely true. These men were almost exclusively experienced pilots. Flight recorders have demonstrated that pilots in doomed aircraft do keep trying to fix it right to the end. They're trained not to panic (as the Apollo 13 crew showed).

 

[TerriO]

Hey, I never said anything definitive. Why is my question being taken as a statement of fact?

So, it's wrong. Nothing to get worked up over. I'm more than willing to admit if I'm proven wrong.

I was just thinking that if they'd had those, it would have been easier than just opening their helmets to space.

 

[Noname Given]

watermelony2k said:
well, no, they did come back. but if they had been unable to come back, nixon already had a speech ready:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Event_of_Moon_Disaster

In the case of such an event, the two astronauts would have been given a cut-off of communications from mission control so that they could die in peace or commit suicide (take off helmets?)

It's been mentioned on a History Channel documentry on the Apollo 11 moon landing. They also mentioned that while moving around in the cabin in a full spacesuit, one of the astronauts broke off the circut breaker that they needed to close to fire the Eagle's main engine for lift off; and Aldrin 'fixed' it by using one of 10 pens they had brought with them to force a broken part of the switch to close and allow the engine to fire. :thumbsup:

 

[Zachary Smith]

Noname Given said:

watermelony2k said:
well, no, they did come back. but if they had been unable to come back, nixon already had a speech ready:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Event_of_Moon_Disaster

In the case of such an event, the two astronauts would have been given a cut-off of communications from mission control so that they could die in peace or commit suicide (take off helmets?)

It's been mentioned on a History Channel documentry on the Apollo 11 moon landing. They also mentioned that while moving around in the cabin in a full spacesuit, one of the astronauts broke off the circut breaker that they needed to close to fire the Eagle's main engine for lift off; and Aldrin 'fixed' it by using one of 10 pens they had brought with them to force a broken part of the switch to close and allow the engine to fire. :thumbsup:

Good thing he was able to do that. Otherwise it might have been, as my father would say, "a real "Aw DAMNIT!".

 

[Canadave]

They show a bit of Nixon reading the speech in In the Shadow of the Moon. It was fascinating and creepy at the same time.

 

[Deimos Anomaly]

Hmm if during the apollo prog the astronauts got stuck on the moon...

How long would their air / food / power last?

How long would it take to pull out all the stops, throw about ten thousand extra men into the assembly of the next rocket, and rush it to the moon?

I'm guessing sadly the answer is going to be one that does not involve any overlap between the latest time in the former case and the earliest time in the latter, but I'm just wondering.

 

[Canadave]

^ I believe they said about 48 hours in the movie. Not even enough time for another rocket to get to the moon, given the ~72 hour travel time for the Apollo missions. I believe the plan would have been for communications to be cut-off with Aldrin and Armstrong at a predetermined point, and then Collins would have had to have taken Columbia on the next possible TEI point in the orbit and returned to Earth himself.

 

[zenophite]

If you gotta go I guess dying stranded on the moon is a hell of a way to do it.