The fact that the engineers put in the ability to switch all things to all other things shows great foresight. And the calmness of the whole crew never ceases to amaze me.
My understanding from the video clip they showed is that they couldn't just route directly from LM to CM battery charger... But they could route from LM to one of the CM buses and then just turn off everything except the battery. ;)
Almost all satellites and spacecraft are designed with redundancy, and this level of cross-strapping is common to ubiquitous. I would add - most large satellites are *vastly more complex* than the Apollo CSM, so there are tens of thousands of pages of drawings as in the video.
Aircraft probably pioneered this. In a modern commercial jets, any fuel tank can feed any engine, any generator can power any bus, and any pump can power any actuator, in most cases.
Just the best. It must have taken months and months to put this video together. So freakin good. Marc, your explanation with diagrams, actual Apollo voice recordings, and your voice over wasn't a long side track in the video... it was the video. Many Apollo collectors are going to watch this video. Someone out there has an inverter that's not filled with cancer that they will donate to the channel. I just know it.
Was I alive at Apollo-13’s flight? Yes Did I follow the flight in 1970? Yes Did I read lots about it since then? Yes Yet today, Marc provided the best commentary I’ve heard. I think because of the step-by-step explanation alongside a diagram annotation. Thank you!
No pressure but if you felt like doing a full 2.5hr technical/schematic read-along of the incident, it might be one of the most fascinating videos in existence about the subject. Like some other people, I forgot this video was about the inverter and was sucked into the illuminating companion narration. I wish I was, like you said, an “Apollo spacecraft power system expert”, but I’m afraid even with the core concepts down, the insights of the logic behind the troubleshooting would be missing and are priceless.
Vermiculite does not always contain asbestos - its still available and in use today for fire protection. Might be worth getting the stuff you removed tested if its still available. Another great Apollo 13 episode 👍
Think so, too. Vermiculite should be free of asbestos. It can be pretty itchy and wearing a mask is a good idea, but it's not a health risk as asbestos.
I feel like this Vermiculite was added more than 30 years ago. Therefore it is likely it's source is from the Libby mine which contained (amphibole) asbestos as mined. Only way to know it is to test (and not vacuum it with a random shopvac before!! 😮)
24:20 As a teenager in the early 90s I was lucky enough to sit next to John Aaron (EECOM) for 14hours on a flight from Sydney to LA. He enthralled me with stories of Neil Armstrong and his work in Apollo 13. Pity I wasn't older or I would have hammered him with more questions. I remember he introduced himself "Hi I'm John Aaron, I taught Neil Armstrong to land on the moon." Something he was very proud of. 🙂🇦🇺
Oohhh meen.. I love this episode.. Thank you so so much... I read so many books and videos about the accident and now you share this guts details of it... tears of joy. Thank you thank you!!!
I want to second your comment. I have listened to the mission audio many times and this video really sheds a new light on whats being discussed. Absolutely fascinating. Marc, please do more videos like this!
The technical walkthrough, with diagrams and audio from all the Nasa engineers, was *incredible* - that deserves to be made into a separate dedicated new series!!
Where’s Scotty when you need him? 😂 The quality and professionalism of these people in the Apollo program was simply amazing. Hats off to those people!! 🎉
I had butterflies in my stomach as Marc narrated the terrifying minutes as everything was falling apart. This retelling of the events had a much larger emotional impact on me than any article or the magnificent Apollo 13 movie. Well done!
Marc, This is the most comprehensive, thorough, and amazing description of what happened during A13, and how the system functions! Once again, you've knocked it out of the park sir!
It is fascinating to see how much flexibility and N+1 redundancy was built into the Apollo CM and LM systems. It is a tribute to the designers to have anticipated the potential need for flexibility even though there was a mass and volume penalty for doing so ... and they were rewarded for the foresight by Apollo 13. Also, just think how much smaller and less massive that inverter would be if made with modern semiconductors - it would now be practical to synchronize phasing in order to parallel inverters onto the same bus. Thanks for sharing the fascinating transcript of some of the brainstorming behind recovering from the total loss of DC power from all of the SM fuel cells simultaneously. Wow, what a nail-biter.
That was one roller coaster of a video. I learned a lot of the Apollo 13 dysfunction (?) it was great to see the block diagram and the original dialogue as they tried to work out what had gone wrong. Thanks again for your efforts !
Your 'sidetrack' was probably the most gripping piece of youtube video I've ever seen -- an excellent explanation of a sequence of events that I've never been able to fully follow before now. Thank-you!
Well now I understand why more than half of the episode was on the power systems and not the inverter Considering how much Apollo equipment you have worked on, it's a small miracle that this is the only one that is beyond rescue and through no fault of the engineers who designed it Secretly hoping that we will be getting a video on a Block II inverter now, that will just magically show up :D
@@robinbegley1077Well, this was a lab test unit designed to be used repeatedly for years as they used the rest of the BP craft to test all manner of procedures and upgrades for flight hardware . Curiously, I wonder if this specific unit was used during the Apollo 13 incident to test recovery plans (the movie has at least one ground team work in a training capsule, not sure if that was actually done) .
Thanks everyone for one of the most interesting episodes. I often sit longing for the next episode. Those of us who were young and followed Apollo as children find this incredibly exciting to see how a new generation of technology was created. I myself mention to my children from time to time that Apollo largely founded our smart phones and cameras... Very much looking forward to future episodes. Thank you for your great commitment.
This has been my favorite CuriousMarc video by far! Thank you for the in depth analysis of the Apollo 13 failure. I hope you enjoyed creating it as much as I enjoyed viewing it. Thank you and your team!
What an incredibly insightful analysis. Besides the technical genius of everyone involved, at times you can really tell how much uncertainty and, to some extent, fear, they are feeling. They may have a bunch of schematics, data and potential fixes for the problems, but when they start to discuss between the stations if it would be wise or not to switch the inverters around, it's evident that they couldn't 100% know what would happen. Must be tough to make decisions down here knowing there are 3 people trapped on a glorified tin can with no way out if you mess up. Thanks for the video Marc, appreciate it.
This was an extremely educational episode, despite ending in a surprising manner. I worked on a spacecraft as a junior systems engineer in the 1980s, and the level of knowledge of the engineers and scientists was amazing - just like the people who figured out quickly how to save Apollo 13.
Yeah, I always imagined them to be mostly redundant rails with all key systems switchable from bad bus to good bus . Having most stuff tied to one bus or the other makes the situation worse, though all the off switches would still allow reducing load enough to tie the busses to a single source, such as cell 3, bat C, or whatever, hence the placement of the extra battery on 14.
What a fantastic explanation and timelapse of the apollo 13 accident. This channel allerede was top notch, and now reaching a whole new level. Thanks Marc !
Thank you for the detailed walkthrough of the underlying system design, system dependencies, hardware affected, and real-time diagnosis at the heart of the Apollo 13 abort. The EECOM engineer, Sy, and his back room support team were absolutely a shining example of focused team work and mastery of their subject domain. I was just a kid when Gemini and then Apollo programs were underway but was fascinated and drank in everything I could about them. As an engineer approaching retirement, I truly appreciate the foresight involved in the flexibility and redundancy considerations that went into the architecture and detailed design of the Apollo hardware that this channel has so admirably explained. Those architects and designers tried to have backup after backup layers since space is always trying to kill you and they wanted the best chance for keeping the astronauts alive. Whatever the next Apollo restoration is, I’ll be watching.
Yes, that's Gene Kranz. Remember, he has not been told yet that they think they lost Fuel Cell 1 and Fuel Cell 3, so this comes as a bit of a surprise.
Your commentary following the actual dialogue is so fascinating!! It really makes you feel the urgency and pressure these engineers were under and how their brains must've been firing off trying to come up with an analysis and solution. Such a captivating troubleshooting to follow along.
The Apollo program owes you and your team a *GREAT DEAL* of gratitude for keeping all this old hardware alive. I love every episode. My paternal grandfather was one of the *many* engineers who worked on Apollo, so I've always loved learning whatever I can about the program -- especially its hardware. Thank you for making these videos.
From a conceptual standpoint, this inverter is like a non-mechanical equivalent of the dynamotor widely used in WWII radio equipment. The original dynarotor utilised a collector DC motor, mechanically coupled to either a dynamo or an alternator, depending on the grade of sophistication of the design; the alternator with the rectifier generated both regulated DC and stabilised AC power. This Apollo inverter generate the rotating magnetic fields without any mechanical rotating device. To achieve a perfect sine wave, the LC circuits had to be resonating at the wanted output frequency, hence the carefully calibrated capacitor banks. Thank you for this special episode! Greetings, Anthony
Vermiculite, in and of itself, does not contain asbestos, but comes from it being present along with vermiculite when mined. A lot of it would depend on when the vermiculite was added to the inverter. If done by Westinghouse - fair chance that it might have contained it due to the timeframe, major suppliers, etc. If done by someone later on, possibly less likely. Might want to have a sample tested. Find out if you have to have the lab/house decontaminated or not.
This. I doubt it's contaminated. You buy the stuff in bags for chimney insulation amongst other things, and never have I heard of vermiculite being contaminated with asbestos! If you're worried then have it tested, but I'd be really surprised if it isn't clean. (apart from some dust though... ;) )
Yah the testing is pretty cheap too, for sure send it off and find out. My evil motivation is because if it comes back clean then they can do more videos on it ;-)
@@mikebarushok5361 Well, that's disturbing. I never knew about asbestos contamination of vermiculite. I spent a good part of my youth in the 60s and 70s up to my elbows in vermiculite, growing and propagating plants. No mesothelioma so far, though.
@@johnopalko5223 hopefully you weren't manipulating vermiculite in a closed area and if it was always dampened the fibers aren't as likely to be inhaled. I too was exposed to asbestos from working in a wholesale greenhouse where we mixed all our potting soil in a small enclosed room. Not moistened until used. I try to remember to get a chest X-ray every couple of years and so far all's well. I also had exposures to high temperature asbestos insulation for aircraft parts, did lots of brake lining replacements on cars and trucks and used asbestos and metal mesh heat deflectors when I did soldered copper plumbing repairs. As the song goes "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."
This video was an absolute gem! By far one of the best stories of the adventure of 13. It would be great if you made a series of each of these stories. I feel there would be so many who would enjoy them but not find it without an interest in the hardware restoration!
The first half of this video is one of the coolest and most immersive videos I have ever seen. Would love to see that style of video for how the whole mission played out
I was 7 when 13 failed, and followed it at the time. I've read Cooper's book and many others, seen films and documentaries, and listened to the flight recordings. This is the best -- by far -- analysis of the way they saw the problem unfold. Your channel overall is a major contribution to Apollo history... incredible. (Now do the rest of the 13 flight:-)
Marc, I've been watching your channel for years and this was by far and away my favorite episode. I know it's a bit outside of what you do, but please more narration of Apollo flight and ground loops whenever it fits your projects.
Again, an amazing episode, so glad I'm living right now to experience it, truly great work! I'm always amazed about the amount of work all that wiring would have been, truly astonishing.
That was the best explanation of the Apollo 13 situation I've ever watched, as thsi one had a decent schematic and a really good explanation. Thank you
These videos make me thankful that technology has progressed so much that a spacecraft no longer needs all this heavy equipment just to do these electronic tasks. Now you could probably make the Saturn V with only like 1,500lb of electronics I bet.
As an electrical engineer i've been involved in designing a couple DC/AC inverters (non aerospace related) in the past 20years. This episode was a pure joy to my mind 😎😋🤠
I DO love your detailed reconstructions, so much that I enjoyed it more than the opening of that stunning piece of engineering. I think, in my humble opinion, that it's a format you should keep. Your ability to explain in great detail what's happened maintaining a high level of attention is quite unique.
Thanks for sharing all this stuff. As a “tinkerer” fixing all the family stuff your stuff is way over the top. It’s gotta be fun seeing a diskey light up ad step thru programs. Relevant links dialogue, and vids are just awesome!
Seems a trivial donation to your lab. I can't remember the last time I found such a fascinating, in-depth break down of this nail biter. Such a clever use of the comms, diagrams and schematics.
Every time I hear excerpts from the Flight Director loop, it always gives me the chills. I’m just flabbergasted by the sheer technical knowledge, creative thinking and resource management these guys performed. It’s truly exceptional! Same goes for the engineering and technical planning that went into the design of the Apollo spacecraft. They really thought of everything, and made almost everything customizable and adjustable . I suppose we have to thank this kind of forward thinking for bringing us the astronauts back alive, as well as keeping the Apollo program in the air for a few more missions..
I for one really appreciated the diversion through the description of the early stages of the Apollo 13 'problem'! Thanks for going down that rabbit-hole in this episode. 🤓
The talk of the fuel cell failure accident isn't really off the topic, since the context behind the inverter's history is appreciated and important thanks to weird aviation power requirements, but boy, was it off the cuffs. Early switchmode power supplies tend to be huge hunk of metal and loads of transistors, during the time when power supply efficiency was being worked on as the companies want to shove them in everything as it's cheaper than huge Iron transformers, so nowadays you can put together the same 28 Volts DC to 115 Volts AC 400 Hz pure sine wave inverter that's 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the original Apollo 13 inverter, technological advances are amazing.
I read the book "How Apollo flew to the moon" twice, because it´s so immersive. Seeing this stuff in real is more exciting than any fictional thriller. You always make so fantastic things!
I would absolutely love a more detailed analysis of the Apollo 13 failure with annotated schematics and diagrams, just as how you already did in the video.
Great to see the system diagrams and the analysis for a play-by-play to go along with the audio recordings, gives an insight into the troubleshooting process.
These videos Marc makes are of a different league. Awesome explanation. This must have taken a lot of time to make. Best analysis I have seen on the subject. Just a pity you are not able to use the found inverter, would have been awesome. Building a setup with only original equipment. Thanks Marc for your contribution to understanding the Apollo related tech.
Hi guys! I'm just a man of average intelligence and know very little of electronics but being a huge fan of the moon landing I find this fascinating even if it is all over my head. Thank you for making this video! I learned more than I thought I would ever know about Apolo 13.
Welp, RSVP Apollo AC power inverter. At least now you know why they needed to put the thermal goop between it and the cold plate, it was probably overheating because of all that insulation! The only way to be sure would be to completely disassemble it and wash every board and surface. Yes, it would be technically possible, and it would give you the opportunity to identify and block test/troubleshoot/repair each board, but it would be _so much work!_ You'd risk contaminating your lungs or eyes (or even just carrying away particles in your clothes) every time you move as much as a wire, unless you were fully kitted up in a bunny suit with respirator and goggles (or full face respirator). It's just not worth it if you can get access to another uncontaminated example.
This was a really good run down of what happened, some seriously good problem solving, and I love that the circuit had enough flexibility that they could turn everything off and run only the battery charger backwards to the way it was supposed to be. Also would like to point out, that even with today's tech, 1.2Kw inverters haven't gotten that much smaller.
didn't know about vermiculite, apparently pre 1990s vermiculite could and probably does contain asbestos, modern vermiculite is tested for it and kept free of asbestos
Hollywood movies don't play out as well as this! This is truly outstanding! If the movies were as good as this I would go to the cinema (movie theatre) more often! Fantastic!
Very smart taking an asbestos risk seriously. Just like Kranz said, "lets not make this problem worse." My dad died a painful death from 1950s era US Navy Asbestos. Test kits are inexpensive in the $30 range. You carefully supply a small sample and mail it in to a certified lab. In a week or so, they send you a written certificate of the results.
Fascinating piece of engineering. Lots going on in that inverter, for sure. Also very interesting listening to the troubleshooting audio with your schematics explaining what they were doing. It's a shame that someone put that vermiculite in the inverter. Terrible choice but I expect they were under the impression it would provide vibration damping for the component leads, to forestall metal fatigue. They should have done more homework before making that choice.
Thank you for this video. This was so cool! They showed us SCHEMATICS of the top-level design. They show the circuits that were only talked about in the movie Apollo 13. 😮
WOW! Terrific video guy. The BEST and most informative analysis of any Apollo mission i have experienced. And, i was in elementary school when Apollo 13 made the trip. Please keep up the great work. :)
Wow... That was truly an amazing video! Thank you so much for all that work making it and explaining it all. I followed completely. It flowed well. A true masterpiece.
Quote: "The best 2 1/2 hour customer service call you will ever hear." Best quote from CuriousMarc ever!
I laugh every single time he says Doodley Doo, never gets old.
OK, but I didn't find the link in the doodly-doo
@@markgreco1962 The original quote is from the youtube AvE, but he always said Doobiely Doo, and not Doodley Doo...
@@tekvax01 Inverter does not chooch....
@@gtoger Right? Where is it?
The fact that the engineers put in the ability to switch all things to all other things shows great foresight. And the calmness of the whole crew never ceases to amaze me.
My understanding from the video clip they showed is that they couldn't just route directly from LM to CM battery charger... But they could route from LM to one of the CM buses and then just turn off everything except the battery. ;)
@@Khrrck That's my takeaway too - by using a bussed design they had lots of flexibility built in, which ultimately saved the crew's lives.
Almost all satellites and spacecraft are designed with redundancy, and this level of cross-strapping is common to ubiquitous. I would add - most large satellites are *vastly more complex* than the Apollo CSM, so there are tens of thousands of pages of drawings as in the video.
This is very normal for critical systems to be designed that way. Cosy goes way up though.
Aircraft probably pioneered this. In a modern commercial jets, any fuel tank can feed any engine, any generator can power any bus, and any pump can power any actuator, in most cases.
Sir, this episode was the best analysis and discussion of 13 I've ever seen.
Quite so - absolutely amazing.
Just the best. It must have taken months and months to put this video together. So freakin good. Marc, your explanation with diagrams, actual Apollo voice recordings, and your voice over wasn't a long side track in the video... it was the video. Many Apollo collectors are going to watch this video. Someone out there has an inverter that's not filled with cancer that they will donate to the channel. I just know it.
As an electronics technician it was probably the most interesting break down I've ever seen.
@@disgruntledgoat I totally agree. this was awesome
It was all faked. It couldn't have happened the way the report said it did.
Was I alive at Apollo-13’s flight? Yes
Did I follow the flight in 1970? Yes
Did I read lots about it since then? Yes
Yet today, Marc provided the best commentary I’ve heard. I think because of the step-by-step explanation alongside a diagram annotation. Thank you!
How funny to see you here! :P A fantastic commentary indeed!
Isn’t this exactly where you’d expect to find me? Enjoying excellent content. Good to also see you here.
The power distribution explanation was the most fascinating “sidetrack” I have experienced in a long time.
I totally forgot about the inverter.
No pressure but if you felt like doing a full 2.5hr technical/schematic read-along of the incident, it might be one of the most fascinating videos in existence about the subject. Like some other people, I forgot this video was about the inverter and was sucked into the illuminating companion narration. I wish I was, like you said, an “Apollo spacecraft power system expert”, but I’m afraid even with the core concepts down, the insights of the logic behind the troubleshooting would be missing and are priceless.
100%
This is exactly what season 2 of the BBC podcast "13 Minutes to the Moon" is. Season 1 is the lunar descent phase of Apollo 11.
NASA engineer of 20+ years. This nearly brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for the great work and even more for the great video editing, etc.
One of your best Marc.
Vermiculite does not always contain asbestos - its still available and in use today for fire protection. Might be worth getting the stuff you removed tested if its still available. Another great Apollo 13 episode 👍
I think getting a sample tested would be a great idea. That would tell you what your dealing with.
Think so, too. Vermiculite should be free of asbestos. It can be pretty itchy and wearing a mask is a good idea, but it's not a health risk as asbestos.
I use vermiculite in a lair of my gecko lizard, it's absolutely non toxic, apparently extremely rare that it would contain any asbestos.
I feel like this Vermiculite was added more than 30 years ago. Therefore it is likely it's source is from the Libby mine which contained (amphibole) asbestos as mined. Only way to know it is to test (and not vacuum it with a random shopvac before!! 😮)
@@FrozenHaxorI guess it depends on the production decade!
24:20 As a teenager in the early 90s I was lucky enough to sit next to John Aaron (EECOM) for 14hours on a flight from Sydney to LA.
He enthralled me with stories of Neil Armstrong and his work in Apollo 13.
Pity I wasn't older or I would have hammered him with more questions.
I remember he introduced himself "Hi I'm John Aaron, I taught Neil Armstrong to land on the moon."
Something he was very proud of. 🙂🇦🇺
Oohhh meen.. I love this episode.. Thank you so so much... I read so many books and videos about the accident and now you share this guts details of it... tears of joy. Thank you thank you!!!
I want to second your comment. I have listened to the mission audio many times and this video really sheds a new light on whats being discussed. Absolutely fascinating. Marc, please do more videos like this!
Sy turned 87 this year. Gene is 89. John is 80. Don't know about Dick or George, but Larry died in a plane crash in 2011.
The technical walkthrough, with diagrams and audio from all the Nasa engineers, was *incredible* - that deserves to be made into a separate dedicated new series!!
Where’s Scotty when you need him? 😂 The quality and professionalism of these people in the Apollo program was simply amazing. Hats off to those people!! 🎉
I had butterflies in my stomach as Marc narrated the terrifying minutes as everything was falling apart. This retelling of the events had a much larger emotional impact on me than any article or the magnificent Apollo 13 movie. Well done!
Yeah, now the movie feels like the "children's book" version. This is even more terrifying.
Me, too!! I was shaking.
Marc, This is the most comprehensive, thorough, and amazing description of what happened during A13, and how the system functions! Once again, you've knocked it out of the park sir!
Agreed!
Ooh, I so didn’t want this episode to end…
neither did I!!!
Same! This was absolutely fascinating.
It is fascinating to see how much flexibility and N+1 redundancy was built into the Apollo CM and LM systems. It is a tribute to the designers to have anticipated the potential need for flexibility even though there was a mass and volume penalty for doing so ... and they were rewarded for the foresight by Apollo 13. Also, just think how much smaller and less massive that inverter would be if made with modern semiconductors - it would now be practical to synchronize phasing in order to parallel inverters onto the same bus.
Thanks for sharing the fascinating transcript of some of the brainstorming behind recovering from the total loss of DC power from all of the SM fuel cells simultaneously. Wow, what a nail-biter.
That was one roller coaster of a video. I learned a lot of the Apollo 13 dysfunction (?) it was great to see the block diagram and the original dialogue as they tried to work out what had gone wrong. Thanks again for your efforts !
I was so captivated by the Apollo 13 problem I forgot about the inverter. And, ungrateful me, I wanted more of the story! Magnificent.
I was on the edge of my seat again, the growing realisation of the seriousness of the predicament that faced the crew.
Your 'sidetrack' was probably the most gripping piece of youtube video I've ever seen -- an excellent explanation of a sequence of events that I've never been able to fully follow before now. Thank-you!
Absolutely LOVE the annotated commentary! Such a fascinating piece of history
Well now I understand why more than half of the episode was on the power systems and not the inverter
Considering how much Apollo equipment you have worked on, it's a small miracle that this is the only one that is beyond rescue and through no fault of the engineers who designed it
Secretly hoping that we will be getting a video on a Block II inverter now, that will just magically show up :D
We are secretly hoping too!
For something designed to work for about a week, its amazing it was still working decades later
@@robinbegley1077Well, this was a lab test unit designed to be used repeatedly for years as they used the rest of the BP craft to test all manner of procedures and upgrades for flight hardware . Curiously, I wonder if this specific unit was used during the Apollo 13 incident to test recovery plans (the movie has at least one ground team work in a training capsule, not sure if that was actually done) .
That inverter looks like a perfect candidate for one of those CT scans(obviously sealed in plastic bags the whole time).
The metal casing would react badly to the main CT magnetic field . Remember, *no metal allowed within 20 feet from the machine*
@@johndododoe1411 Huh? I don't think you got that right at all. There is no magnetic field in CT scan, it uses ionizing radiation.
@@FrozenHaxor Oh, I always get those 2 medical scanners confused .
@@johndododoe1411 no expert but I think of CT as a 3 dimensional xray.
I'd LOVE a commentary movie by you guys along with that 2.5hour accident handling call!
+1
Thanks everyone for one of the most interesting episodes. I often sit longing for the next episode. Those of us who were young and followed Apollo as children find this incredibly exciting to see how a new generation of technology was created. I myself mention to my children from time to time that Apollo largely founded our smart phones and cameras... Very much looking forward to future episodes. Thank you for your great commitment.
This has been my favorite CuriousMarc video by far! Thank you for the in depth analysis of the Apollo 13 failure. I hope you enjoyed creating it as much as I enjoyed viewing it. Thank you and your team!
What an incredibly insightful analysis. Besides the technical genius of everyone involved, at times you can really tell how much uncertainty and, to some extent, fear, they are feeling. They may have a bunch of schematics, data and potential fixes for the problems, but when they start to discuss between the stations if it would be wise or not to switch the inverters around, it's evident that they couldn't 100% know what would happen. Must be tough to make decisions down here knowing there are 3 people trapped on a glorified tin can with no way out if you mess up. Thanks for the video Marc, appreciate it.
This was an extremely educational episode, despite ending in a surprising manner. I worked on a spacecraft as a junior systems engineer in the 1980s, and the level of knowledge of the engineers and scientists was amazing - just like the people who figured out quickly how to save Apollo 13.
Thoroughly enjoyed your Apollo sidetrack. I’ve always been Curious what all the bus A and B talk was.
Yeah, I always imagined them to be mostly redundant rails with all key systems switchable from bad bus to good bus . Having most stuff tied to one bus or the other makes the situation worse, though all the off switches would still allow reducing load enough to tie the busses to a single source, such as cell 3, bat C, or whatever, hence the placement of the extra battery on 14.
What a fantastic explanation and timelapse of the apollo 13 accident. This channel allerede was top notch, and now reaching a whole new level. Thanks Marc !
I cant image someone would add vermiculite to that box. I wonder if some engineer was doing some end point testing and wanted to get it hot.
Thank you for the detailed walkthrough of the underlying system design, system dependencies, hardware affected, and real-time diagnosis at the heart of the Apollo 13 abort. The EECOM engineer, Sy, and his back room support team were absolutely a shining example of focused team work and mastery of their subject domain.
I was just a kid when Gemini and then Apollo programs were underway but was fascinated and drank in everything I could about them. As an engineer approaching retirement, I truly appreciate the foresight involved in the flexibility and redundancy considerations that went into the architecture and detailed design of the Apollo hardware that this channel has so admirably explained. Those architects and designers tried to have backup after backup layers since space is always trying to kill you and they wanted the best chance for keeping the astronauts alive.
Whatever the next Apollo restoration is, I’ll be watching.
Listening to the Apollo 13 audio gave me goosebumps!
Great description of the power problem of Apollo 13. That was the most exciting story I head recently.
EECOM: I want to power down a total of 10 amps, flight
FLIGHT: A total of ten amps!
someone else: *surprised whistling*
I believe that was Gene Kranz whistling, if I recall correctly. He was a bit shocked at the delta that EECOM was requesting.
Yes, that's Gene Kranz. Remember, he has not been told yet that they think they lost Fuel Cell 1 and Fuel Cell 3, so this comes as a bit of a surprise.
Panning the spacecraft and "intercom" audio to different channels works really well!
Your commentary following the actual dialogue is so fascinating!! It really makes you feel the urgency and pressure these engineers were under and how their brains must've been firing off trying to come up with an analysis and solution. Such a captivating troubleshooting to follow along.
The Apollo program owes you and your team a *GREAT DEAL* of gratitude for keeping all this old hardware alive. I love every episode. My paternal grandfather was one of the *many* engineers who worked on Apollo, so I've always loved learning whatever I can about the program -- especially its hardware. Thank you for making these videos.
i waited over 50 years to get a concise explanation - this is it. well done.
Great stuff Marc! I think many of us appriciate how much work went into producing this great content!
The videos are always excellent, but this was definitely a cut above. Thanks for taking the time to make it and explain everything so clearly.
From a conceptual standpoint, this inverter is like a non-mechanical equivalent of the dynamotor widely used in WWII radio equipment. The original dynarotor utilised a collector DC motor, mechanically coupled to either a dynamo or an alternator, depending on the grade of sophistication of the design; the alternator with the rectifier generated both regulated DC and stabilised AC power.
This Apollo inverter generate the rotating magnetic fields without any mechanical rotating device. To achieve a perfect sine wave, the LC circuits had to be resonating at the wanted output frequency, hence the carefully calibrated capacitor banks.
Thank you for this special episode!
Greetings,
Anthony
Vermiculite, in and of itself, does not contain asbestos, but comes from it being present along with vermiculite when mined. A lot of it would depend on when the vermiculite was added to the inverter. If done by Westinghouse - fair chance that it might have contained it due to the timeframe, major suppliers, etc. If done by someone later on, possibly less likely. Might want to have a sample tested. Find out if you have to have the lab/house decontaminated or not.
This. I doubt it's contaminated. You buy the stuff in bags for chimney insulation amongst other things, and never have I heard of vermiculite being contaminated with asbestos!
If you're worried then have it tested, but I'd be really surprised if it isn't clean. (apart from some dust though... ;) )
Yah the testing is pretty cheap too, for sure send it off and find out. My evil motivation is because if it comes back clean then they can do more videos on it ;-)
Vermiculite from Libby, Montana, mined between 1928 and 1990, was contaminated with asbestos. It produced 75% of the worlds vermiculite at its peak.
@@mikebarushok5361 Well, that's disturbing. I never knew about asbestos contamination of vermiculite. I spent a good part of my youth in the 60s and 70s up to my elbows in vermiculite, growing and propagating plants. No mesothelioma so far, though.
@@johnopalko5223 hopefully you weren't manipulating vermiculite in a closed area and if it was always dampened the fibers aren't as likely to be inhaled. I too was exposed to asbestos from working in a wholesale greenhouse where we mixed all our potting soil in a small enclosed room. Not moistened until used. I try to remember to get a chest X-ray every couple of years and so far all's well. I also had exposures to high temperature asbestos insulation for aircraft parts, did lots of brake lining replacements on cars and trucks and used asbestos and metal mesh heat deflectors when I did soldered copper plumbing repairs.
As the song goes "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."
This video was an absolute gem! By far one of the best stories of the adventure of 13. It would be great if you made a series of each of these stories. I feel there would be so many who would enjoy them but not find it without an interest in the hardware restoration!
The first half of this video is one of the coolest and most immersive videos I have ever seen. Would love to see that style of video for how the whole mission played out
I was 7 when 13 failed, and followed it at the time. I've read Cooper's book and many others, seen films and documentaries, and listened to the flight recordings.
This is the best -- by far -- analysis of the way they saw the problem unfold.
Your channel overall is a major contribution to Apollo history... incredible.
(Now do the rest of the 13 flight:-)
wow. this is hands down the best episode on this already amazing channel so far.
Marc, I've been watching your channel for years and this was by far and away my favorite episode. I know it's a bit outside of what you do, but please more narration of Apollo flight and ground loops whenever it fits your projects.
I absolutely didn't mind the side track, that was awesome just got into it, really interesting!
Again, an amazing episode, so glad I'm living right now to experience it, truly great work! I'm always amazed about the amount of work all that wiring would have been, truly astonishing.
That was the best explanation of the Apollo 13 situation I've ever watched, as thsi one had a decent schematic and a really good explanation. Thank you
These videos make me thankful that technology has progressed so much that a spacecraft no longer needs all this heavy equipment just to do these electronic tasks. Now you could probably make the Saturn V with only like 1,500lb of electronics I bet.
As an electrical engineer i've been involved in designing a couple DC/AC inverters (non aerospace related) in the past 20years. This episode was a pure joy to my mind 😎😋🤠
Спасибо вам! Через такие подробные детали лучше понимаешь всю грандиозность задач по освоению космоса, которые стояли перед человечеством.
I grew up during the Apollo Era and I really appreciate the tremendous effort and love you put in this effort.
By far the best and most detailed description of the Apollo 13 power system I have seen, super interesting 👍
I DO love your detailed reconstructions, so much that I enjoyed it more than the opening of that stunning piece of engineering.
I think, in my humble opinion, that it's a format you should keep.
Your ability to explain in great detail what's happened maintaining a high level of attention is quite unique.
This was way better than the movie. Not even close. Great work.
This analysis is brilliant! It cases the skill and competence of the NASA controllers...it was their finest hour.
That was a FANTASTIC summary of the Apollo 13 power emergency.
Thanks for sharing all this stuff. As a “tinkerer” fixing all the family stuff your stuff is way over the top. It’s gotta be fun seeing a diskey light up ad step thru programs. Relevant links dialogue, and vids are just awesome!
Seems a trivial donation to your lab. I can't remember the last time I found such a fascinating, in-depth break down of this nail biter. Such a clever use of the comms, diagrams and schematics.
Every time I hear excerpts from the Flight Director loop, it always gives me the chills. I’m just flabbergasted by the sheer technical knowledge, creative thinking and resource management these guys performed. It’s truly exceptional! Same goes for the engineering and technical planning that went into the design of the Apollo spacecraft. They really thought of everything, and made almost everything customizable and adjustable . I suppose we have to thank this kind of forward thinking for bringing us the astronauts back alive, as well as keeping the Apollo program in the air for a few more missions..
I for one really appreciated the diversion through the description of the early stages of the Apollo 13 'problem'! Thanks for going down that rabbit-hole in this episode. 🤓
The talk of the fuel cell failure accident isn't really off the topic, since the context behind the inverter's history is appreciated and important thanks to weird aviation power requirements, but boy, was it off the cuffs.
Early switchmode power supplies tend to be huge hunk of metal and loads of transistors, during the time when power supply efficiency was being worked on as the companies want to shove them in everything as it's cheaper than huge Iron transformers, so nowadays you can put together the same 28 Volts DC to 115 Volts AC 400 Hz pure sine wave inverter that's 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the original Apollo 13 inverter, technological advances are amazing.
I read the book "How Apollo flew to the moon" twice, because it´s so immersive.
Seeing this stuff in real is more exciting than any fictional thriller. You always make so fantastic things!
I would absolutely love a more detailed analysis of the Apollo 13 failure with annotated schematics and diagrams, just as how you already did in the video.
Brilliant debug explanation. As always Marc!
I was captivated… this episode should be added as “bonus content” to the Apollo 13 Hollywood film
... we got sidetracked a bit - raw Apollo 13 accident audio decoded, brilliant!
Thanks so much for the deep dive into Apollo 13 accident.
Great to see the system diagrams and the analysis for a play-by-play to go along with the audio recordings, gives an insight into the troubleshooting process.
Thank you for the back story. It kept me glued to the screen. GREAT STUFF!
Hi, you can take a sample of your vermiculite and have it tested for asbestos, it may not necessarily be contaminated at all. Amazing analysis!
Since it was added probably more than 30 years ago, I feel like it is likely it is from the Libby mine... Best to not vacuum it out before testing 😮
These videos Marc makes are of a different league. Awesome explanation. This must have taken a lot of time to make. Best analysis I have seen on the subject. Just a pity you are not able to use the found inverter, would have been awesome. Building a setup with only original equipment. Thanks Marc for your contribution to understanding the Apollo related tech.
This was fantastic! This is the first time I've actually understood what really happened.
Amazing detail here that I've not come across before on Apollo 13. Thank you so much for your efforts to present this
Fantastic commentary of the 13 incident. I would love to hear more.
Hi guys! I'm just a man of average intelligence and know very little of electronics but being a huge fan of the moon landing I find this fascinating even if it is all over my head. Thank you for making this video! I learned more than I thought I would ever know about Apolo 13.
Welp, RSVP Apollo AC power inverter. At least now you know why they needed to put the thermal goop between it and the cold plate, it was probably overheating because of all that insulation!
The only way to be sure would be to completely disassemble it and wash every board and surface. Yes, it would be technically possible, and it would give you the opportunity to identify and block test/troubleshoot/repair each board, but it would be _so much work!_ You'd risk contaminating your lungs or eyes (or even just carrying away particles in your clothes) every time you move as much as a wire, unless you were fully kitted up in a bunny suit with respirator and goggles (or full face respirator). It's just not worth it if you can get access to another uncontaminated example.
This was a really good run down of what happened, some seriously good problem solving, and I love that the circuit had enough flexibility that they could turn everything off and run only the battery charger backwards to the way it was supposed to be.
Also would like to point out, that even with today's tech, 1.2Kw inverters haven't gotten that much smaller.
Dude. That was amazing explanation of the electrical system failure on 13
Awesome episode. I was absolutely gripped by the power system explanation coupled with the mission audio!
I love your channel, but this video is special. Magnificent! Thanks!
Thank you for giving the detailed breakdown of events from the perspective of Flight, EECOM & EPS. That was a very interesting adjunct to hear. 👍
didn't know about vermiculite, apparently pre 1990s vermiculite could and probably does contain asbestos, modern vermiculite is tested for it and kept free of asbestos
That was BOTH AMAZING and FANTASTIC to listen to the coms .... I will DEFINITELY be saving that website!!
Hollywood movies don't play out as well as this! This is truly outstanding! If the movies were as good as this I would go to the cinema (movie theatre) more often! Fantastic!
Very smart taking an asbestos risk seriously. Just like Kranz said, "lets not make this problem worse."
My dad died a painful death from 1950s era US Navy Asbestos.
Test kits are inexpensive in the $30 range. You carefully supply a small sample and mail it in to a certified lab. In a week or so, they send you a written certificate of the results.
You are so lucky to be able to work on this stuff.
Fascinating piece of engineering. Lots going on in that inverter, for sure. Also very interesting listening to the troubleshooting audio with your schematics explaining what they were doing. It's a shame that someone put that vermiculite in the inverter. Terrible choice but I expect they were under the impression it would provide vibration damping for the component leads, to forestall metal fatigue. They should have done more homework before making that choice.
Thank you for this video. This was so cool! They showed us SCHEMATICS of the top-level design. They show the circuits that were only talked about in the movie Apollo 13. 😮
The best explanation ever of Apollo power systems. I love you guys.
Wow, great job on the play by play of Apollo 13! I found it fascinating.
I love these videos when restoration crosses paths with history
WOW! Terrific video guy. The BEST and most informative analysis of any Apollo mission i have experienced. And, i was in elementary school when Apollo 13 made the trip. Please keep up the great work. :)
Wow... That was truly an amazing video! Thank you so much for all that work making it and explaining it all.
I followed completely. It flowed well. A true masterpiece.
Marc this is one of the best videos on this subject ever created!