Why Lunar Landers Had Jumper Cables For Emergencies

[@WarpedYT]

I just imagine reading that manual while being stranded on the moon, I think I would be relieved that I had some options.

[@redcitadel8354]

Think I'd be freaked tf out that I had hit the last page on a emergency manual and had yet to have something work lol.

[@kparaju]

The astronauts would have already known about this procedure and possibly even practiced it.

[@nothereanymore3941]

"Look inside the lunar rover's glove compartment. We have prepared a semi-automatic pistol with enough ammunition for all crewmembers"

[@Weisior]

Someone has to found an escape room with the main attraction being jumpstart of lunar module lol

[@seanbeadles7421]

Apollo 13 escape room

[@tsurutuneado5981]

Fun fact: according to NASA, in case the crew couldn't jump start the lander, one of the astronauts would've needed to push the module fast enough so the other astronaut could start the engine using the clutch.

[@moth4256]

their newer spacecraft used automatic transmission though, so it was more problematic to start the engine

[@44R0Ndin]

@@moth4256 Newer American spacecraft are now equipped with a hand-crank for that purpose.

[@kingofthings7929]

Ah, the Scott Manley Maneuver. “Get out and push.”

[@YDDES]

44R0Ndin The only thing You have managed, is to show your total ignorance.

[@timothygooding9544]

my dad did this to a bmw but alone and in reverse Keys in, clutch in, door open. Kicked off the ground to roll the car backwards down a hill. Let the clutch in with the car in reverse and the engine started despite the dead battery. True Madlad move

[@donsample1002]

I like step 32: "Perform Cabin Repressurization with descent O2 _ if available_ "

[@Imbeachedwhale]

Don Sample With a contingency if it isn’t available.

[@QemeH]

@@Imbeachedwhale Correct, but if I read the contigency right, it means they would have to ride out the ascent (and rendevous) in their EVA suits as they wouldn't re-pressurize the ascent module. But that means, that they not only had to do this whole LRV-moving jump-starting manual-fireing of the ascent stage within 30 minutes, but also the orbital maneuver to dock. Because the next opportunity to pressurize the ascent module comes only when it's mated to the service module...

[@MrJaiimez]

@@QemeH is it possible the suits can hook into an o2 supply though even if the module is unpressurised they might be able to refill or supply o2 directly to their suits.

[@QemeH]

@@MrJaiimez That's true, I didn't think about that.

[@_erroneous]

hold your breath, wait don't.

[@LmgWarThunder]

Somedays I think I've seen it all, then Scott comes at me with a title like this

[@heyarno]

This makes me wonder if spaceship jumper cables are mandatory today and international standardised.

[@donjones4719]

Yes, except for the Apple ones. They need a different dongle very two years.

[@Lyle-xc9pg]

@@donjones4719 every year*

[@quantum5661]

@@Lyle-xc9pg every sunday*

[@Aeronaut1975]

@@donjones4719 Pahahahaha!

[@bradtaylor7265]

Somebody ask Sandra Bullock what the Russian word is for 'spaceship jumper cables'...

[@b8702131]

In the 2020s: "How to jumpstart your spaceship using your smartphone's wireless charger"

[@ewanmurray153]

I was just thinking, how long till a USB-C cable and a mobile power pack could jump one.

[@deathwatch27]

@@ewanmurray153 I don't see why not. That's what I use for my car lol

[@diesistkeinname795]

@@ewanmurray153 USB type C is specified with 100W maximum. (5A 20V) You could run a small computer and maybe actuate some valves with it. Not sure if that's enough to start the engines though as some could in theroy be started with ~100W but as soon as you need a starter motor, 100 W is nothing. It wouldn't surprise me if some engineer came up with that as an emergency plan to run the navigation and RCS system on a type C powerbank as an emergency backup.

[@ewanmurray153]

@@diesistkeinname795 haha I knew if I joked someone would come in with the specs and trample on my dreams 😂 You gotta admit though, it would be a fantastic marketing ploy if they could get around the output to ridiculous amounts (if not a terrifying financial pithole!)

[@diesistkeinname795]

@@ewanmurray153 If they raised the voltage to 100V, they could use up to 500W wich could barely power a pump or something. The point is that they usualy only need enough to start: -navigation -RCS thrusters -solar panel alignment 100-500W could probably do that, if the solar panels are aligned properly, they produce much more. Another option would be to charge the onboard batteries via USB C for a few minutes and draw the higher current required for some systemy from them to start whatever powers your spacecraft.

[@ewanmurray153]

30 minutes of air to do all that? Sure for your average astronaut... Me? Used in 5 seconds of panicking the hell out...

[@thomasfholland]

Ewan Murray Just like scuba diving with a novice driver! I’ve got 30 minutes of air left & the novice had 5 minutes!!

[@5Andysalive]

Thank god it was the 70's where even the emergency part of a suit had 30 minutes reserves. Imagine it being a videogame scifi suit with 30seconds of oxygen....

[@CNC-Time-Lapse]

Yeah, that's a good point. These guys aren't stupid. They would know that this is literally the last option left in the manual to get this sucker lifted off. I would be breathing a little heavier knowing this while working. lol Just goes to show that these guys weren't average people. lol

[@kopfauftischhau216]

An if Young would be the one doing it, he would have 60 minutes because he would simple breath half as often as the others...i mean, it worked on his heart rate ^^

[@bcubed72]

30 minutes' of Air Supply is just too much 80's rock for me! _"I'm all out of love/I'm so lost without you..."_

[@petehjr1]

One of those "Well you've got the rest of your career to fix this problem".

[@kn4qzw367]

petehjr1 or the rest of your life.

[@buffuniballer]

That's how they phrased it a Airborne School at Ft Benning, GA, "Airborne, if your main chute fails to deploy, take your time, you have the rest of your life to deploy your reserve..."

[@richardmourdock2719]

This is the craziest thing I've ever heard of from the Apollo program.. Thought I was pretty knowledgeable, but Scott, you win the prize with this one.

[@jurgenwulf490]

That's what I also thought!

[@569139]

Another great video Scott!! The Apollo program is close to my heart, as my late father worked on the Apollo program. He was a Technical draftsman who worked for Bell Aerospace here in Western New York. In 1967 our family moved to Houston Tx. for 2 years so my father could work on the Lunar Lander Training Vehicle (LLTV). The late Neil Armstrong had to eject out of one of them when the craft became unstable after the directional control system failed, there is footage of it on KZbin. I actually got to meet Neil Armstrong at Ellington AFB near Houston, I was 7 years old. Keep up the great work!! Fly Safe Mate!!

[@SeanBZA]

Funny enough, I did once jump start a helicopter, which had a battery that had run down due to the DC bus being turned on overnight so the security guards could use the aircraft radio to listen to broadcast FM. Helped that I did my apprenticeship on that model, and knew the entire electrical system, and also the pitfalls that could occur with them running the battery down, and what to look for. Ground power unit and the ground power connection, start the ground power unit and power up the DC bus, and they press start. Low current, the ground support unit is designed to supply 8kA at 28VDC, and this little turbo barely made it to 400A during start, so after a half minute of idle, pulled the cable ( only way, there is no disconnect other than a sense contact on the plug), waited another 5 minutes at idle to see if the battery was not going to go into thermal runaway, it was still cold so gave them a clearance to take off back. As well used another ground support unit to jump an ambulance that had waited 6 hours for the casevac to get there, with lights on, and there had to grab jumper leads to make the link between the connector and the battery. those lights went very bright on 28V instead of 24, and that ammeter needle did not even budge off the zero during the very very vigorous starting. As to the LRV batteries being used to fire the ascent stage probably no issue, the batteries certainly were the same chemistry, they used a similar enough voltage. The major issue was the disconnection, as the LRV batteries would stay behind, and the ascent stage needed power to keep the valving operational, so they designed the systems to get you power from an alternate set of ascent batteries if the main ones failed, but use batteries on the ascent stage. You could not have kept the mass centre stable if you used the LRV battery pack and carried it with, no real space to place it (otherwise they would have had equipment or battery pack there already) and also it would move the mass centre from the engine bell outside the ability of the RCS system to compensate for the eccentricity. Silver Zinc batteries are heavy, and are only used in space applications because they are so reliable and tolerant to abusive temperatures and charge and discharge use, unlike the modern lithium chemistries. Thus you can have a smaller battery pack for the same high current draw, and not have to worry too much about it cycling from -100C to +200C every orbit.

[@Atlessa]

Low current... 8kA... bitch what??

[@44R0Ndin]

@@Atlessa I was thinking the same thing, you'd have a hard time welding with that much current because you'd just evaporate the metal instead of melting it! I'm pretty sure they meant "low current" relative to the capabilities of the ground power unit, because compared to a design rated current of 8kA, 400A is indeed "low current". What I want to know is what kind of equipment requires a ground power unit that can provide 8kA at 28v? A 787? That's the only aircraft I know of that doesn't have a bleed-air system and therefore needs a large amount of electricity to operate when the engines are off.

[@stevetreloar6602]

@@44R0Ndin I did some mental math and i can't remember the very simple formula exactly (W=VxA?) but that is about 11.2 KW I think? I don't doubt the guy at all (doesn't sound or read like it's made up) but it seems an awful lot. (EDIT: removed error)

[@HuntingTarg]

@@stevetreloar6602 Good observation: we're probably talking about a unit designed to assist in starting large aircraft turbines and turbofans, so 10+kW isn't absurd by any stretch. I went on base with my father a handful of times, and walked by units pulled as trailers designed for 22 or even 50 kW. That sort of power is available to civilians now, even land-mobile.

[@ParkerUAS]

Probably a large turbo shaft engine here. I know Allison turboprop on a P-3 Orion use around 8kA to start up. We actually have a dial on our Ground Power Unit that we have to crank up to allow that power. The power cord is warm to the touch when we go to wrap it up.

[@TheLowey2002]

The density of human thought that goes into every tiny detail is absolutely staggering.

[@Elbrasch]

Concerning the question of jumpstarting from the rover: The screenshot posted at 07:04 reads like connecting the power instantly activates the engine and the explosive bolts. So you can probably jumpstart from the rover, but whoever does that stays behind and watches.

[@dantreadwell7421]

Which is why you connect that end first. Pause it on Harrison Schmitt's post and read that section. He says you hook up the battery first then hook up the other end to two separate breakers and bang, your off.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@dantreadwell7421: Your... what... is off? Which possession? Your... ascent stage?

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Or perhaps if they had thought of just one more thing, bring a push-button or some other kind of switch with them and then hook that in the circuit, and then rest more assured that they'd have everything nice and hooked up and then as everything and everyone is on board with the hatch mostly closed, just push the button and take off while closing the hatch.

[@CalgarGTX]

That's the beauty of electricity, electrons are electrons, no matter what you use them for, you can modulate amps and voltage, switch them around and power (almost) anything

[@Oddman1980]

Not only that, but there is typically a tolerance for varying voltage. It doesn't need "Exactly 3.7 volts", it will run just fine at 5v or, for a short time, maybe even 6v.

[@HuntingTarg]

@@Oddman1980 depending on tolerances, but more often than not.

[@BM-ku8fv]

Dude. You absolutely make my life so much happier every time I see your clips. Cause humans are amazing and the future is exciting!

[@stargazer7644]

The word "literally" serves no purpose in this comment.

[@BM-ku8fv]

I’m dumb. Thanks for the correction . Lol

[@mike20sm]

It's so cool to see the long take of the ascent. Usually it's cut away, but with this at around :52 you can see it pitch over to orbit quickly instead of straight up for awhile. I guess since there's so little atmosphere on the moon.

[@srinitaaigaura]

With the moon having virtually zero atmosphere, you could orbit at almost any altitude as long as you don't fly into terrain. Orbits were quite low just before the lunar descent and after the ascent phases.

[@Geolaminar]

"I'm Scott Manley, fly safe." Look pal, you gotta face facts. That ceased being an option long before the space jumper cables came out.

[@MathsatBondiBeach]

Great insights on this issue, Scott. It just shows the depth of predictive engineering from those days.

[@sharkuc]

And to think I rolled my eyes while reading The Martian when Mark Watney jumpstarted Pathfinder...

[@cmdrterrorfirma4244]

A very obscure tidbit of coolness. Thanks Scott.

[@almostfm]

"Getting roadside assistance on the surface of the Moon is basically impossible". And you've got to be standing by the LM when they get there, and you have to have taken your card out of your wallet before you put the spacesuit on.

[@occhamite]

Great video Scott! I've read 25 or more books pertaining to Apollo, and had not heard of this until now!

[@occhamite]

@jay They're out there , you want a list?

[@TheTeufelhunden68]

I grew up during the Apollo program, and like most kids at the time, I was fascinated by space flight. I have always considered myself to be pretty knowledgeable concerning our space program, in particular of course, the Apollo era. Having said that, I always learn something new from you. Thanks. Well, you and that Hot little number from Vintage Space, Amy Teitel.

[@menachemsalomon]

"Spacecraft: They're just like complicated cars." -- Scott Manley

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Thanks to SpaceX there is now a spaceship which IS a car.

[@menachemsalomon]

@@CarFreeSegnitz Well, _technically_ - A'right, I'll grant you the point. ;-)

[@oni101]

Now-a-days, care are like super simplified spaceships.

[@clydecessna737]

Also when performing this emergency procedure they would be very, very frightened. The Right Stuff indeed.

Every aspect of the mission is scary in my opinion.

[@SuperAWaC]

there's no reason to be scared, though. either it's going to work and you're going to go home, or it isn't and you're not.

[@HuntingTarg]

@@SuperAWaC there's plenty of reasons to be scared - they're in most people's family photos. Part of "The Right Stuff" is not thinking about the reasons and following training and procedures. That's sometimes the difference between getting back home or not, whether from the moon, a combat zone, or the deep blue sea.

[@Bankable2790]

“Idea”, yeah cause that’s totally how fear works, not at all subconscious or anything

[@1stPCFerret]

I remember two comedic takes on the Apollo 9 mission. One was a multi-panel comic strip that had the astronauts stuck on the moon because they need a jump-start, and a UFO settles down net to them and two little green men pop out with Jumper Cables. The other purported to be the last item on the emergency checklist which involved one of the astronauts standing under the ascent engine with a box of kitchen matches.

[@scottmanley]

Apollo 9 never left earth orbit.

[@1stPCFerret]

@@scottmanley I guess I meant Apollo 11. I'm old; my brain don't work so good anymore.

[@ilikeyourname4807]

I can imagine spacecraft from the 70s being less complicated than modern cars. It's just... Every bit was necessary...

[@johnrickard8512]

A spacecraft from the 70s had control electronics about as sophisticated as a mid 1980s onboard diagnostics computer. Pretty amazing when you think about it.

[@inkyguy]

I like your name, handheld calculators ten years later had about the same computing power, if not more, than the computers aboard the Apollo missions.

[@rkan2]

@@inkyguy You're off by nearly two decades. The AGC already was no match for the Zilog Z80, which was produced from 1976 onwards. The Ti-81 from 1990 was almost certainly on par with the AGC. The TI-83 from 96 was already multiple times faster.

[@Packless1]

...some years ago, when i had trouble with the electronics of my Toyota, the guy in the garage said: "...no wonder. Modern cars have more electronics inside than early Jetliners...! ...if you would start your engine by hand, the Check-list would take ~2 hours...! ;-)

[@GeorgeTsiros]

@@johnrickard8512 on board, maybe. You car, however, can start on its own. The rocket needed a launch pad and an entire building worth of dedicated engineers to start it.

[@Veptis]

I think the jetpack belt to get back to the Service module is the craziest procedure. But riding the ascent module in a run away fashion with hatches hope and wired exposed would have looked good on the TV cam

[@Phazon_Corrupted]

I work for AAA and can confirm 100% absolutely zero lunar roadside coverage.

[@johnrickard8512]

I'm sure AAA will probably be one of the first though, and the galaxy will be very grateful.

[@drtidrow]

Did you see the invoice that Grumman sent North American for "towing services" after Apollo 13? :-D www.spaceflightinsider.com/space-centers/kennedy-space-center/the-apollo-13-invoice/

[@dewiz9596]

Kevin M : the yearly rates for AAA membership would be astronomical. . . 😉

[@Phazon_Corrupted]

@@drtidrow omg that's awesome! Haha good find

[@WoodworkerDon]

It's worse. All the lunar modules and the lunar rovers were "off-road" vehicles.

[@Restilia_ch]

Now can we do this to recharge a certain Tesla Roadster?

[@schwags1969]

You could use it to jump start your spacecraft though.

[@inkyguy]

OtakuMage, in fact, it is hoped that some day there will be enough electric cars hooked up in garages that their batteries can be used to store power to draw on in power emergencies. Should there be a drop in the the coal, nuclear or hydro plant or the solar and/or wind farm, or a sudden surge in the demand for power, your electric utility could draw power from the hundreds of thousands of batteries in people’s cars sitting idle in their garages, which in turn they would pay or credit you for - hopefully.

[@Restilia_ch]

@@inkyguy Neat!

[@diesistkeinname795]

No, its batteries are probably dead from deep discharge and low temperatures. You'd need to order a set of replacement batteries from a certain guy who could ship them there...

[@michael-dm2bv]

@@inkyguy - do ur homework. there is NOT ENOUGH lithium to power a "lithium world".

[@tybofborg]

"ground control equipment used to start a booster" hmmm. Do the Soyuz matchsticks qualify? :)

[@calliarcale]

Ground equipment to start boosters isn't unique to Soyuz. If your engine doesn't have to restart in flight, then there's no reason you can't decide to require ground start equipment -- for one thing, it's one less bit of mass you have to carry with you long after it stopped being useful. But my favorite ground start equipment has to be the start carts for the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbirds were, in a very real sense, living prototypes, and there are some strange warts in their design as a result of this. In order to start the engines, you had to first get the turbines spinning fast enough. That part isn't unusual; modern airliners use compressed air to start their turbines spinning, from an APU if possible or a ground start cart if not. What *is* unusual is that they didn't use compressed air -- instead, they mechanically rotated the turbines by means of a drive shaft connected up to the ground start cart, which relied on two automotive V8 engines. (Buick in the early days, Chevy later. The auto manufacturers were not consulted, this being an extremely top secret program while in development.) On some occasions, when the engines were being particularly cranky, this drive shaft running from the start cart into the bowels of the engine would turn so fast it would actually begin to glow red hot. Once the engine was turning fast enough, the engine would be lit with the fuel and a slug of triethylborane, which is pyrophoric and consequently great at setting JP-8 fuel on fire. (Fun fact: JP-8 isn't much different from kerosene. Triethylborane is also used to ignite a lot of kerosene rocket engines, from the gigantic F-1 on the Saturn V to the modern Merlin engines on the Falcon 9.)

[@KingdaToro]

Even Falcon 9 does this. Ground supplied TEA-TEB is used to start the engines on the pad. There is an onboard supply, but only the three engines used for the recovery burns are connected to it.

[@robynharris7179]

I have read that for Apollo 11, Neil did not consider the double redundant automated fuel valves to be safe enough and he wanted the LM designers to add a manual valve control as well. So that, if EVERYTHING failed, he could simply open the valves by hand and achieve hypergolic ignition without ANY electrical power at all. Either NASA or Grumman decided this was not a desirable design feature and overruled Neil’s request.

[@anarchyantz1564]

They also had another repair fail safe item called a hammer, with instructions to "hit it like a mad Russian".

[@t65bx25]

Which they once used to unjam a nuclear RTG from its storage compartment in order to deploy it.

[@anarchyantz1564]

@@t65bx25 You have to love the repair procedure number one, brute force and ignorance, when in doubt hit it.

[@zapfanzapfan]

"Dis is how we fix things in Russia!" :-) Peter Stormare is actually a Swede but he gets to play every European baddie because who in Hollywood can tell the difference...

[@KuraIthys]

Ah, good old percussive maintenance... Never fails. Until you destroy something. XD

[@donjones4719]

In the same kit with the big knife. Hey, it's not rocket surgery. {have to cut thru Soyuz thermal blanket} Oh wait, yes it is.

[@alvarbilly]

Jumper cables from Kubrick's car, the studio was so far from town.

[@deplorableb.r.4211]

In case they needed to go to the hardware store to get more duct tape, aluminum foil and shower curtain rods and the car wouldn't start.

[@antonbay538]

I love these kinds of videos Scott, you're pretty cool 🙂

[@arikwolf3777]

"Triple-A? We have a problem. Our spacecraft wont start." "Are you parked in a safe place?"

[@wolfgangbuck841]

Triple A- "We got U on Earth. We don't cover the Moon." lol

[@morskojvolk]

Awesome content! I really enjoy learning about contingency procedures, it shows how far down in the weeds the engineers had to go (an how creative they could be).

[@James-ws9vi]

One time my brother and I were playing a round of KSP with the dark multi-player mod. We had many mods but the one of importance was the life support system, I think it was the now defunct tac life support mod. We we're both doing Mun missions at the same time. My lander design had plenty of battery storage and power production via solar while my brother's design did not. After a few quick calculations my brother realized that his kerbal will not have enough power to run life support for the trip home. Luckily both our landers were designed to hit 2 biomes. We ended up meeting up in a crater and with KAS/KIS he was able to pull a solar panel and an battery off of my craft and place it on his, enough to power his life support for the return trip. Coolest part of the story is that he was playing in Ukraine while I was playing in Montana.

[@corear]

Brilliant. Leaving the hatch open should fix any fire problems.

[@bf945]

Back in the 1980's a hurricane knocked out all of the power stations on the island of Kauai. You need power to start a power plant, so they needed external power. A nuclear submarine was sent from Pearl Harbor to jump start the island using their shore power cables to provide power from the nuclear powered steam turbines. In the end, the Navy flew in a large portable diesel generator and got one plant started, it got the rest started.

[@magnemoe1]

Standard operational procedure in KSP.

[@hydrochloricacid2146]

Part of which involves pushing your spacecraft from the outside when fuel runs out

[@acat4701]

@@hydrochloricacid2146 and in my case, losing Jeb in kerbin orbit with no EVA fuel

[@thebluegreengoose]

My dad was a Mechanical Engineering in Crew Systems until 1975. He was called back to work on a Wednesday. He came home Friday. He said they made this thing from usable items on the Space Craft. They radioed up telling how to make it. They had 1 hour of oxygen left. What a time. To grow up with your dad as a NASA Engineer.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Guy goes in bar, wearing a jacket, collared shirt, and jumper cables tied around his neck. Maitre d' looks at him as says, Fine, you may come in, but don't start nothing.

[@tfranken1561]

Jim's videos one would assume that the Maitre d' would have known that thru his use of a double negative he was actually telling him to start something

[@dukecraig2402]

@@tfranken1561 Damn, you beat me to it.

[@tfranken1561]

john smith I get it the horse was Sarah Jessica Parker

[@tfranken1561]

Duke Craig hello fellow self appointed grammar policeman. 🚓 that's why I read the comments.

[@YukiNeko-Neko]

Scott thank you for making all these wonderful videos to watch. The details and explanations you give make understanding everything that you talk about enjoyable to watch and learn.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Scott mentions launching LM upper ascent stage with the _jumper cables_ still dangling from the main hatch of the upper stage. The FIRST THING I envisioned was someone driving away from a [gasoline/petrol] service station in their vehicle with the refueling nozzle and hose STILL ATTACHED TO THE VEHICLE...😊

[@NetTopsey]

I saw some guy do that once. The hose stretched about 20 feet before ripping out the fueling port on the car and come whipping back at me like an angry anaconda. I can only imagine what would happen during a LEM take off and even one cable not disconnecting...

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@@NetTopsey >>> _Oops..._ 😝

[@sp769]

I have always hoped that over time all legitimate questions about ALL details would have answers come forth. The Apollo Handbook you featured is very interesting and I will look at it closely. Thanks in advance.

[@kust112]

I like to start a rocket booster by dropping a lighted match in the fuel Edit: thanks for the likes!

[@adama7752]

no

[@thejay8963]

Archaeoptery X Well, with Soyuz, it’s more like the rocket engines are dropped into the lighted match.

[@aval1998]

Dropping a match into the fuel? That's asking for an explosion, buddy...

[@yoshi6236]

@@aval1998 Mate, rocket launches already are barely controlled explosions!

[@dennisvance4004]

Yoshi So is the aftermath of a bean burrito, but I digress.

[@spudeleven5124]

Once again I've learned something about Apollo that I absolutely did not know. Thanks, Scott!

[@1959Edsel]

The ascent engine tanks were the same size. One was just placed farther out to account for density of the contents.

[@aerospacenews]

Wow. Just wow. My blood pressure went up just thinking about the implications of this type of emergency, let alone the contingencies and procedures. Those Apollo crews were incredibly brave and gifted with a support team of brilliant people.

[@dewiz9596]

November, 1965, when the Northeast US had a major blackout. . . To get the FIRST powerplant of the grid running they needed “inplant power”, which they did not have. So they used employees’ cars, with jumper cables to get the first plant fired up.

[@Z6D4C4]

Fun fact :)

[@vladimirdyuzhev]

No way! No diesel generators at the plants for that case?

[@stargazer7644]

I didn't know power plants ran on 12V DC. I smell BULLSHIT.

[@weseal65432]

Which plant was that?

[@dewiz9596]

For you doubters. . . I’m working from memory of an event almost 54 years ago. I read about the startup in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact magazine. Don’t make me go to the basement and look it up. . . 😀

[@mindeloman]

It really annoys me when people say, "and all this was designed with a slide rule." Math is math. A slide rule just allowed for quicker computations in design, engineering, and testing phases. We had the our best and brightest, in all categories, working on the space program. They could do math.

[@brendanquinlan5936]

Taking off from the lunar surface in a convertible! Wow.

[@robertcampbell6349]

Yup. The Martian wasn't so outlandish.

[@redbeam_]

drop top

[@Sableagle]

At least with jumper cables you can just use them or not. Imagine initiating your de-orbit burn and then seeing all your consoles go dark for a second before the main one pops up white-on-blue text: "Winblows has almost finished updating your lander, which now needs to be rebooted."

[@44R0Ndin]

That's why NASA spacecraft run on Linux.

[@Broockle]

A Moon landing simulation should really be a thing in VR sometime within the next year or two. It would sell big time.

[@Broockle]

@Milt Farrow can you refer one? Can only recall Portal 2 atm xD

[@Broockle]

@Milt Farrow those must have been some damn realistic Simulations, wow Dun track that dust into the orbital lander next time. It'll wreck havoc on ur lungs.

[@alphaadhito]

The scene from Red Planet where Gallagher steals AMEE battery and jumpstart the spacecraft really interest me. But then now i realized there's a real life procedure with the Apollo ascent module is really mind-blowns me

[@FfsNoGoodNamesLeft]

Starting a spacecraft with jumper leads? Airplane II: The Sequel. All I'm saying :)

[@snoortpod6462]

It's still pretty amazing they pulled off all the landings without major incident. Compared to lifting off the Earth, the lift off from the Moon was so much easier. The ascent engine on the LM has long fascinated me because it acted as the invisible umbilical between the Moon's surface and the orbiting CSM - the Moon walker's lives were dependent on it working. Because of the ascent engine's constant thrust the moment the engine had to cut off was time critical. In the Orbiter AMSO simulator you can see the shape of the orbit changing faster and faster as the ship gets to a safe orbit altitude. I've done this manually several times and it's quite a roller coaster ride even on a desktop setup! The track lineup with the CSM has to be pin sharp otherwise you're off plane. There's usually very little fuel left after the launch to Lunar orbit from the surface even with an optimum ascent curve, so every burn of the quad RCS system has to count in order to rendezvous with the CSM. That makes the real life event even more mind numbingly amazing. There's one more thing. At the scale that we exist, all these things actually become possible - something everyone should stop and think very carefully about.

[@ToothbrushMan]

"Roadside assistance on the moon is basically impossible" "Basically"??

[@wilboersma9441]

You can always wait for Elon.

[@harrychung433]

Finally some one talks about the "What IF" scenarios. My biggest concern would be I'm standing outside and watching that LM going skyward after touching the wrong contacts. Neil's famous words would not even compare to my now infamous words, "Oops, wrong one". Anything on their desert island survival training?

[@fredgotpub871]

Thanks a lot: exactly the kind of technical details I enjoy !

[@19ghost73]

Thanks for sharing those technical tidbits, which make it even more "real" to us space-buffs! ATB, Gereon

[@andrewtinker7537]

When your LEM can't get it's self back up, time to break out the ED device...

[@tehbonehead]

Dammit. Beat me to it...

[@dananderson2235]

Scott Manley covers very engaging topics. He is amazing!

[@thedabblingwarlock]

Jumpstarting a spaceship just sounds like it came out of Kerbal Space Program.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

I was thinking the same thing...LOL

[@Alexander-qz6px]

This needs to done in a movie/documentary!!

[@stevierv22]

Aaaaah, that's why they sent starman to space :D Hope they didn't forget to put the cables in the trunk.

[@cmingo85]

This guys were so good! Planed so well...the more I learn the more impressed I am on the feat.

[@BenK12345]

no push start option? Just pop the clutch! :)

[@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke]

That was a great topic for a vid Scott and you communicate the content with excellent clarity. Now I'm gonna search for these procedures you spoke about.

[@jackn2519]

Ah, so that's why Elon sent a car into space!

[@scottdorfler2551]

Man, Manely. You must read non-stop to find these nuggets. Well done! yet again.

[@zacksstuff]

The question is, were the jumper cables color coded?

[@deep.space.12]

7:02, the fifth highlighted line.

[@zacksstuff]

@@deep.space.12 Oops, must've missed that. Thanks for pointing it out!

[@johnmccnj]

I like the fact that the Lego model of the Lunar Module is detailed enough to illustrate Scott's point regarding centre of mass :-).

[@UpcycleElectronics]

Foolish question: if they had already 'thrown out their life support systems' why couldn't they just use the 30min of air to reconstitute their original system?

[@JakeN482]

I imagine it has to do with the limited time window for launch, as they're supposed to reconnect with the orbiter module.

[@RonWylie-gk5lc]

IF you can find someone who has a VR headset and look at the lunar landing wearing it, VR has been disappointing but that one experience is almost worth the money to view, the real scale of this is amazing and the landing terrifying. Thanks again for another great presentation Scott

[@Thermalions]

"Actually I've got the model here. If you've got a model of the lunar module here ..." Rub it in Scott. Just joking .. thanks for the interesting video.

[@RCAvhstape]

Many jet fighters lack APUs to start their own engines and thus require ground support equipment to start up, usually the device is called a start cart, and the procedure is called "fluffing the jet". Think about that. They had to fluff the Saturn V.

[@Ceilingcat9001]

>they could take in the fuel, i mean oxygen Scott is starting to think like Elon. Too many hours on Kerbal I assume.

[@jerry3790]

To be fair, those are still two very different things.

[@johnassal5838]

I like how this is basically driving mattress home from Walmart tied to the roof holding the front down with thier hands out the window

[@IbakonFerba]

Sounds like something Mark Wattney would enjoy xD

[@KatieTheDev]

In his latest film, The Martian 2, Mark Wattney must jumpstart the rocket before liftoff from Mars. He endures many other issues before finally returning to Earth.

[@danpreston564]

I love these videos. The combination of subject matter, that gets the mind wandering to all sorts of different places , and the Scottish brogue of the presenter means that I have never actually got through one without falling asleep. They’re the best insomnia cure, next to the Jeff Bridges sleep tapes, that I’ve ever had. The sad thing is I now know about half the relevant information about loads of things to do with space flight.

[@bourne1012]

The astronauts stood in the ascent module? That's interesting

[@gordonrichardson2972]

Low gravity, short flight, no need to sit...

[@thekevinager5294]

how would they be able to sit in microgravity or moon gravity?

[@bourne1012]

@@gordonrichardson2972 Yea makes total sense now that I think about it.

[@bourne1012]

@@thekevinager5294 I just always pictured them strapped into a seated position, it does make sense for them to stand just never gave it much thought before.

[@zapfanzapfan]

They saved quite a bit of weight doing that.

[@Mex1145]

Imagine being on the moon to connect the jumper leads and accidentally launching it. Looking at the moon lander take off.

[@williamhoward7121]

I had exactly this thought, and if it was the first landing poor Buzz would have been doing the jumping and Neil would have been waving goodbye on his way up!

[@DrBilly90210]

Scott Manley = Great-great-great-granfather of Lt. Cdr. Montgomery Scott, Star Fleet

[@operator8014]

I hear in 2100 we're all going to switch our first and last names around. Scott Manley -> Manley Scott -> Montgomery Scott.

[@nagualdesign]

Hah! This is pretty unique. I've watched many an hour of documentaries about spaceflight and the minutia of every subsystem, but I've never encountered anything about jumpstarting. Kudos, Scott.

[@Tod_oMal]

Where can we find those documentaries? Thanks!

[@nagualdesign]

@@Tod_oMal You could start with _Moon Machines._ That was a good series. Every episode's worth watching, but I found the last episode about the lunar rovers the most interesting. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6bGk2eKqdlkpbs

[@TheJoeSwanon]

Amy! Vintage space is falling behind this sounds like it should’ve been one of your videos ! 🤷‍♂️

[@9HighFlyer9]

Judging by her past work it will be one of her videos. If not expect an article next week.

[@Tod_oMal]

Agree.

[@bitcores]

An obvious question that arises from that procedure is how would they have done it on earlier Apollo missions when they didn't have the Lunar Rover?

[@WoodworkerDon]

Neil: "Hey Buzz, come over here and give me a boost up." Buzz: "Just roll a big boulder over to climb up on."

[@PayneMaximus]

There's no need. Just call the AAA.

[@HPD1171]

you mean AAAAAAA?

[@matt309]

@@HPD1171 you mean AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@Breakdown5297]

@@matt309 r/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Also AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@BillPalmer]

Makes you wonder about and appreciate all of the other abnormal and emergency procedures that there were for all of these spacecraft. Few are aware the thick book of these procedures for airliners which are less complex than the CM & LM.

[@alexanderweaver6047]

Hi Scott Manley. Can you please make a video on how the SpaceX dragon deorbits and gets away from the ISS. I am wondering this because the dragon does not have engines.

[@danieljensen2626]

I believe it just uses it's Draco RCS thrusters to de-orbit. Of course the atmosphere does most of the work slowing down.

[@nightmisterio]

How many times did that lander work on earth?

[@Great.Milenko]

Hi scott, can you please make a video on how exactly they rendezvous with the orbiter after leaving the moon. it always confused me how they basically did a full docking procedure with a module moving so fast with so little room for error and so few supplies and resources (air fuel food water ect.) obviously the launch would be very well timed, but if the engine lacks gimballing and they only have RCS for navigation during the launch , not to mention how low the mass of the lunar launch vehicle was (astronaut sneezes and knocks them a couple of degrees of course) how exactly would they do what is effectively the same as docking with the ISS with so little redundancy on such an unstable craft.

[@gordonrichardson2972]

Lots of practice! All the early Apollo astronauts first flew on Gemini missions. There was also a simulator: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_Docking_Simulator

[@willoughbykrenzteinburg]

You make many baseless assumptions here. There was room for error. They had supplies. Astronaut sneezes wouldn't throw them off course. How unstable was the craft? It's hard to answer your question when the premise is not necessarily factual. But here, this is crude, but accurate : kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2LCaJl-n9OHoJY

[@stargazer7644]

All they had to do was make sure to launch in the right direction so that they would orbit in the same plane as the CM. The rest is just waiting. If you’re a little early or late (or a lot) you just hang out in the lower orbit for the time it takes to get lined up for rendezvous. It isn’t rocket science. Oh, wait. Well, it isn’t HARD rocket science.

[@Oddman1980]

Your mention of the LRV battery being used to jump the LM reminded me of a strange feature of the early Nissan Leaf electric cars. There was, of course, a battery that ran the motor of the car to propel it down the road. But there was another, more normal 12 volt car battery in the car as well. You see, the issue was, the electric motor used something like 120 volts or more, but the car's accessories, things like headlights, radio, power windows, signals, instruments, and... the computer that actually ran the car, were all derived from similar items on more normal internal combustion cars. They ran on 12 volts, which is why you needed this battery! It was possible for the 12v battery to die, which would require a jump start before you could turn the car on. (Leafs of SL trim or higher had a solar panel that kept the 12v battery topped up)

[@mr_sowong9464]

I'm a simple man. Because men are simple......

[@onipanda5]

Spacecraft EPS engineer here. I'd wager it's unlikely they could use the rover's batteries. TLDR: It's possible, but unlikely unless it was explicitly designed to do it. The only thing electrically that would cause problems is the voltage the batteries are sitting at versus the minimum/maximum voltage the system can accept. If the battery voltage is lower than required, nothing will happen, if the voltage is too high, you'll burn stuff out and make it useless. I feel they'd be at the same voltage however because they're the same battery chemistry, so they'd be using the same battery packs for everything, and all the battery packs would be at the same voltage, you'd just use more or less packs to get more AHr capacity. They almost certainly wouldn't have a field joint for battery/power distribution output, but they would have one for charging the batteries. That's not useful though because there'd be reverse protection to keep the batteries from discharging and backfeeding the charging line. Further, supposing there was no reverse protection, the plug would be capped before flight because it wouldn't be used after launch, you'd need to do some work to get the cap off, which given the environment and constraints would be non trivial. Then there's the issue of needing something that can mate with the connector or a way to get at the lines which would be difficult with the space suit. It's likely there's a harness for battery output (I strongly doubt there'd be a direct mate from the batteries to distribution, or no way to get at the output of the power distribution), but that would be buried inside the structure and be exceedingly hard to get access to without disassembling the rover. So unless there was a field joint for battery output and a harness they could use to connect to it, it wouldn't work.

[@cynthiaklenk6313]

Absolutely concur, excellent analysis

[@RMJ1984]

No roadside assistance on the moon?. pff. Time to cancel my AAA service. if they do not cover the moon, it's useless! :P

[@jero37]

If I were an Apollo astronaut who had a rover, I would proudly have the bumper sticker: "My other car is on the Moon."

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Haha, that's a good one!

[@b4nes]

Dang, 0.3 percent dislike ratio. Like safe.

[@ViktorHJ]

0.0078% now :P

[@dragonsword7370]

I've wondered why the industry never standardized on a specific shaped socket for battery terminals and jumper cables since enough drivers get confused about where to attach to. ..

[@donjones4719]

For many decades cars required owners to know a fair amount about mechanics. Got less and less, but it was assumed the average person would know how to use jumper cables with the clamps. Plus, sockets etc cost money, and most cars were kept very basic up thru the 1980s.

[@WoodworkerDon]

They are too focused on squeezing in more cup holders.