Apollo 11 Launch: "If You Can Survive the Simulations, the Mission is a Piece of Cake

 

Apollo 11 Launch: "If You Can Survive the Simulations, the Mission is a Piece of Cake

In July 1969, Apollo 11 made history by launching the first men to land on the Moon. This momentous achievement was the culmination of years of rigorous preparation and relentless simulations designed by NASA. These simulations were crucial in ensuring the astronauts were ready for the daunting task ahead.

In the months leading up to the launch, NASA put the crew through grueling simulations to prepare them for every possible scenario they might encounter in space. The BBC’s Tomorrow’s World visited NASA’s space research center in California in August 1968 to observe these preparations firsthand.

“There’s not much room in here, and these couches are very uncomfortable,” remarked BBC's John Parry as he sat upside down in the Apollo space capsule simulator alongside James Burke. Despite the discomfort, Parry noted that the weightlessness in space would mitigate this issue. NASA had invested significant resources to create realistic simulations that mimicked the conditions of space as closely as possible.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy had set the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon and safely returning him to Earth. NASA rallied an extraordinary amount of manpower, technology, and perseverance to achieve this objective. The project ultimately succeeded in July 1969, sending astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins into space and into the history books.

To prepare the astronauts for their voyage, NASA built an intricate system of detailed simulators. These simulators allowed the crew to master the complexities of the Apollo spacecraft and enabled Mission Control to meticulously rehearse every phase of the mission, from launch to lunar landing to re-entry.

The command module simulator, nicknamed Columbia, was one such contraption. It recreated the interior of the Apollo space capsule, complete with flight controls and displays identical to those in the actual spacecraft. This allowed the astronauts to develop muscle memory for operating the controls under mission conditions.

“The spacemen who will be inside here may have to spend as much as 14 days locked up, taking turns doing eight-hour shifts at the control panel,” Parry explained. To simulate the feeling of being in space, NASA created a 3D scale model of the Earth and an optical system that projected realistic out-the-window views as the spacecraft rotated. This rotation, dubbed "barbecue mode," was necessary to prevent one side of the spacecraft from overheating while the other side froze.

James Burke described the meticulous attention to detail in these simulations. “Every minute motion of the spacecraft is reflected here, giving the astronaut a vivid impression of the Earth hundreds of miles below him,” he said. The scale model of Earth was painted with painstaking accuracy, using satellite photos as references.

NASA also created realistic star fields to help the crew navigate. A television camera projected images of 1,353 of the most important stars, each correctly sized in relation to the others. This allowed the astronauts to determine their spacecraft’s position and navigate their journey effectively.

The Apollo spacecraft was extraordinarily complex, with systems governing propulsion, navigation, communication, electrics, and life support. An army of flight controllers, many of them fresh out of college with an average age of just 27, managed these systems during every second of the flight.

“Everything that happens in the capsule in this simulated flight is watched over in this main control room and another one at the space administration headquarters in Houston, Texas,” Burke noted. These simulations were recorded for study, helping both control-room staff and astronauts refine their skills.

The flight controllers played a crucial role, acting as co-pilots by constantly passing information to the crew, monitoring their vital signs, and calculating the exact timings for rocket firings. “During a simulated flight, control staff are as busy as the astronauts, checking the mass of computerized information,” Burke said. They monitored a bank of closed-circuit television monitors and were in constant communication with their counterparts in Texas.

To prepare for any eventuality, NASA included every conceivable scenario in their simulations. Along with practicing complex maneuvers like docking and undocking the lunar module, they simulated potential system failures and emergencies. This tested the astronauts' and flight controllers' ability to remain calm, communicate accurately, and make quick decisions under pressure.

In 2019, Gene Kranz, former flight director of the Apollo missions, explained how these simulations worked to the BBC podcast "13 Minutes to the Moon." “You have a training team led by a simulation supervisor. Their job is to come up with mission scenarios that are utterly realistic and will train every aspect of the crew and controllers' knowledge,” Kranz said. The simulations were so realistic that they elicited the same emotions and adrenaline as the actual mission.

These intense training sessions bonded the astronauts, flight controllers, and Mission Control. They honed their ability to innovate strategies when things went wrong and weeded out those who couldn’t handle the pressure. Former Apollo flight controller John Aaron recalled, “In a day’s work, we would exercise this 10 or 12 times a day. Run it, debrief it, turn it around, run another one. When you get out of the room at the end of the day, you are drained.”

The simulator for the lunar module, nicknamed Eagle, was particularly crucial. It allowed Armstrong and Aldrin to practice their descent and landing on the Moon repeatedly. On the mission, Mike Collins stayed behind, orbiting in the command module. The landing required precise manual control due to the Moon’s unpredictable surface. The simulations enabled the flight crew to prepare for engine malfunctions, landing gear problems, and other potential issues.

The rigorous training paid off. When the actual landing occurred in 1969, the astronauts and flight controllers were able to make the right decisions despite receiving warning alerts. Armstrong, despite running low on fuel and feeling the pressure to abort, managed to find a smooth place to land.

Reflecting on the intense training, John Aaron summed it up best: “If you can survive the simulations, the mission is a piece of cake.”