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Author
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Topic: Apollo 9: Spacewalkers' red EVA helmets
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Yanksman2001
Member Posts: 24
From: Long Island City, NY, USA
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted 09-30-2004 06:07 PM
   
Something I have always wondered about was the space helmets worn by David Scott and Rusty Schweickart during the Apollo 9 EVA. During launch they worn the regular clear bubble helmets, but during the EVA they had red, Gemini style helmets. Was an additional helmet carried for each or did they have pieces that fit over the clear bubble ones? |
carmelo
Member Posts: 1109
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 09-30-2004 08:09 PM
Those are the original Apollo helmet for the A6-L spacesuit. In the movie "Marooned" (early 1969) based on real NASA's equipments the "red helmet" are shown too. After the Apollo 9 flight those helmet were reject for little resistence. |
Matt T
Member Posts: 1373
From: Chester, Cheshire, UK
Registered: May 2001
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posted 09-30-2004 09:04 PM
The Lunar Extravehicular Visor (LEVA) fitted over the pressure (or 'bubble') helmet. All the A6L and A7L LEVA helmets were red, the big difference is that the bulk of the flown A7L LEVAs were covered with an ITMG layer composed of a single layer of white beta and numerous layers of aluminized mylar and marquisette. Thus the white appearance of the helmet is the more familiar. The Apollo 9 helmets were actually early A7L rather than A6L helmets but the differences are minimal. The internal 'shell' of the LEVA helmet remained pretty well unchanged between A6L and A7L suits. If you peruse the Apollo Archive you'll find numerous training and mission photos that afford tiny glimpses of the red part of the helmet. Just to confuse things even further I have a photo of Jack Schmitt wearing a blue A6L LEVA during training, but that's a whole other discussion... |
Tom
Member Posts: 1725
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-08-2005 12:01 PM
If you go to this website and scan down to photo #S-68-31889, you will see those same red helmets were worn by astronaut Irwin and (Grumman Pilot) Gibbons, during the LTA-8 tests, back in June 1968. |
Matt T
Member Posts: 1373
From: Chester, Cheshire, UK
Registered: May 2001
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posted 01-08-2005 05:57 PM
Since we last discussed this topic a few months back I've unearthed a few more facts about the Apollo 9 red visor assembly and other later configurations.By mid 1969 (and possibly earlier) the red helmet was referred to as the EVVA helmet (Extravehicular Visor Assembly), to distinguish it from the LEVA (Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly). These were later followed by the SEVA (Skylab Extravehicular Visor Assembly). The EVVA comprised five main sub-assemblies; the shell assembly (the red bit), the protective visor, the sun visor, the hinge assemblies and the latching mechanism. The LEVA added two more sub-assemblies, the shell cover assembly (the white cloth layer) and the eyeshade assemblies. The eyeshades were initially just pull down shutters that covered the left and right side of the visor. Following comments from the crew of Apollo 12 a central eyeshade with a flip-up element was also added. For Skylab the shell cover and the flip-up shade were removed. The housing for the eyeshades was a white Lexan so the helmets still appeared white, although the underlying red shell can still be seen in places. So despite the varying appearance every single Apollo and Skylab EVA astronaut was wearing basically the same type of EVA visor. |
tetrox
Member Posts: 142
From: London England
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 01-04-2011 08:07 AM
Could anyone provide information regarding the distinctive red helmets worn during the Apollo 9 EVA exercises shown here.
I had wondered whether it was a standard A7L helmet (if there is such a thing) without covering but to me it looks quite different. I have the Amanda Young book "Spacesuits" but cannot find mention.If it is indeed a different helmet I would like to locate further information. Editor's note: Threads merged. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 2131
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-04-2011 08:08 AM
I thought the red helmet was a gotcha for Rusty Schweickart but here is a photo of Dave Scott wearing one during his EVA.  Editor's note: Threads merged. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2189
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 01-04-2011 10:24 AM
You can see Armstrong's equipment in these images from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Scroll down to the LEVA section. |
Captain Apollo
Member Posts: 356
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 07-10-2014 01:02 PM
Any reason why the designers choose red? Isn't it unprecedented in previous helmet designs? I guess I just assumed that white was always the go to color for EVA equipment. |
p51
Member Posts: 1784
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 07-10-2014 03:13 PM
You'd have thought someone would have considered having either the CDR of LMP wear one of these red covers on the surface in the early missions before using the red stripes to denote the CDR... |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 51573
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-10-2014 05:01 PM
Part of the purpose for the Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly (LEVA) was to lessen the heat impact to the Pressure Helmet Assembly (PHA, or bubble helmet). It wouldn't make much sense to design the LEVA in any color but white for that reason.As for realizing the need for a stripe — on Apollo 9, discerning the astronauts apart was never an issue because the choreography of the spacewalk served to distinguish Schweickart from Scott. It wasn't until Apollo 11 was back on Earth did anyone realize there was going to be a problem trying to identify Armstrong from Aldrin in their photos. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1625
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-10-2014 06:07 PM
... and yet they didn't add the stripes until Apollo 13. I thought they encountered more difficulties discerning the Apollo 12 moonwalkers from one another than they did with Apollo 11. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 51573
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-10-2014 08:28 PM
Given there were only a few months between Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, perhaps the stripes weren't devised or available in time for the second lunar landing mission. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1625
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-10-2014 09:02 PM
I understood they weren't even considered until after Apollo 12 returned. It may have also been due to the fact that the outer helmet shells with the additional sun guards (developed as a result of the glare experienced on the first two flights) were introduced for Apollo 13 and just happened to include the commander stripes? |
mark plas
Member Posts: 385
From: the Netherlands
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 07-11-2014 02:37 AM
Are there any pictures of astronauts using the center eyeshade on Skylab?
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 51573
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-11-2014 05:56 AM
As noted above: quote:
Originally posted by Matt T:
For Skylab the shell cover and the flip-up shade were removed.
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mark plas
Member Posts: 385
From: the Netherlands
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 07-11-2014 01:55 PM
Looking at pictures of the Skylab LEVA I clearly see a center shade they can pull down. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1265
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 12-26-2023 03:13 PM
Just to add a little more info to this ten-year old discussion. On page 13 of the 22 Aug 1966 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology, in the Industry Observer column, the follow notation appears: First U.S. astronauts to explore the lunar surface will wear red helmets so that they may be more easily observed from the moon-orbiting command module and by each other. I guess at this point differentiating between the two astronauts on the lunar surface was not a high priority. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4552
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 12-27-2023 06:30 AM
From memory, Bill Ayrey's excellent book "Lunar Outfitters" explains that the red pressure helmets were indeed covered post Apollo 9 because of excessive heat build-up in the helmets worn by Scott and Schweickart.As for the limited time between Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 being too short to attach identifying stripes to Conrad's suit: I think the simpler explanation is that no thought had been given to the notion at that time. About 4 weeks prior to the Apollo 14 launch, the inner pressure bladder on Mitchell's suit sprang a leak due to deterioration, requiring it to be replaced and the rubber formulation to be altered for subsequent suits/missions. I'm quite sure, had arm and leg stripes been thought of for Apollo 12, modifications could have made in plenty of time. |
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