iPlayer find: vintage Horizon - Man In Space, 1966

[GroupC]

Just found this gem while looking for something to watch tonight:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01z4mj0/horizon-19651966-man-in-space

Outstanding in many ways. Love Walter Cunningham.

But the immature schoolboy part of me was particularly entertained by the bit at 15.30. "One of the most beautiful sights in space" indeed!

[Bealman]

As a NASA history nut, this will be awesome. Thanks for posting!

Unfortunately, I can't play it here in Australia! 

[GroupC]

It's here too...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqlrV_l25uw

Enjoy!

[Bealman]

Yep, that works! Cheers! 

As a point of history, Walt Cunningham flew the first Apollo mission in autumn 1968. He never flew again, nor did the rest of the crew. They refused to follow instructions from mission control, so when they returned to Earth, NASA grounded them permanently.

[Newportnobby]

But the immature schoolboy part of me was particularly entertained by the bit at 15.30. "One of the most beautiful sights in space" indeed!

Yeah - that's just taking the wee

[Philip.]

good find, that's tonights viewing sorted 

[Bealman]

Just had another look at that. A really good find! Thanks again!   

When I was teaching physics, I'd remind kids that the urine in a spacecraft overboard dump has the same velocity as the spacecraft. This meant that they flew to the moon with a cloud of wee alongside. 

[railsquid]

Just had another look at that. A really good find! Thanks again!   

When I was teaching physics, I'd remind kids that the urine in a spacecraft overboard dump has the same velocity as the spacecraft. This meant that they flew to the moon with a cloud of wee alongside. 

But surely it would be ejected on a slightly diverging trajectory? 

[Bealman]

Initially the same forward vector, but it would have a sideways component of the forward motion, which of course would add up to a net sum of those vectors, which would result at it heading off at an angle and eventually dispersing.

I just used that to engage students. They liked the idea of humankind flying to the moon surrounded in a cloud of you know what 

[Bealman]

Actually, when I think about it, I recall one lesson when I gave them the velocity of the Apollo spacecraft, and made up a velocity of the urine, and asked them to calculate three things: a, the final velocity of the wee, b, velocity of wee relative to  spacecraft, and c, velocity of spacecraft relative to urine.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but for some reason, doing physics calculations around bodily functions got the students right in! 

[GroupC]

So theoretically some of said wee could end up on an intergalactic tour, possibly even being discovered by intelligent aliens, being analysed and leading to all sorts of speculation on what it was and where it came from. Awesome.

It reminds me a bit of a tale told be the great John Peel about a time he had his car broken into, in the boot of which was a sample of his own wee for his doctor to analyse. The criminals took the wee (literally) among other items, and John in his own superb style speculated on his evening show about what they'd make of finding that they'd stolen "an old man's ****" when they looked at their haul.

[railsquid]

So theoretically some of said wee could end up on an intergalactic tour, possibly even being discovered by intelligent aliens, being analysed and leading to all sorts of speculation on what it was and where it came from. Awesome.

Unfortunately I suspect the best you can hope for is some sort of heliocentric orbit, otherwise if it hasn't crashed into the moon or burnt up in the earth's atmosphere it will be floating around the earth-moon system.

[Nick]

When I was teaching physics, I'd remind kids that the urine in a spacecraft overboard dump has the same velocity as the spacecraft. This meant that they flew to the moon with a cloud of wee alongside. 

Indeed they did. Dispersal was not rapid, so much so that for the J-series missions, where the CSM conducted optical experiments in lunar orbit, provision was made to store urine on board for up to 24 hours to avoid misleading measurements and contamination of the optics... The normal arrangement was for the astronaut to urinate into a sort of funnel which was open to vacuum via a fairly lengthy run of pipework. (He didn't make what NASA euphemistically describe as "intimate contact" with the receptacle, so there was no risk of parts of his anatomy being sucked into the tubes... )

No.2's were stored and returned to Earth. The process was complicated, so much so that the said Walt Cunningham logged that it took 45 minutes from start to finish. Indeed I once went a talk by (I think) him, where he said that having evaluated the faecal waste management system during Apollo 7's mission, the most important piece of advice they could give subsequent Apollo crews for using it was "get naked", as it was easier to clean skin than clothing. It wasn't unknown to have to chase wayward "objects" around the command module.

Romantic business, space travel...

[GroupC]

It all brings a whole new level of meaning to "To boldly go where no man has gone before".

[Bealman]

Good point, Nick. The SIM bay in those last three missions were full of cameras.

The last man on the moon, Gene Cernan, said in his book that the best way to defecate in space was not to it at all!