|
Author
|
Topic: Apollo command module cockpit location
|
spacescribe
Member Posts: 21
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2013
|
posted 04-21-2013 11:50 AM
  
I looked at this diagram of the Apollo command module and could not find where the cockpit is. Was it on the upper level of the module? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
|
posted 04-21-2013 12:03 PM
The cockpit is the middle part of the module. It has labels for the instrument panel and the couches are easy to see. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-21-2013 12:05 PM
On edit: To expand on what Jim writes...Unlike the space shuttle, which inside its crew compartment had both a flight deck and mid-deck, with the upper deck serving as a cockpit, the Apollo command module's crew cabin was a single level. Therefore, in the diagram that you have linked, the cockpit — which doubled as the living quarters — is where you see the seats (or couches, as labeled) positioned such that the astronauts were laying on their backs at launch. The control panels were above them. The other areas exposed by the cutaway diagram were not accessible by the crew and were not part of the cabin. If it helps, this photo shows me sitting in a mockup of the Apollo command module, looking in through the hatch:  |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
|
posted 04-21-2013 02:05 PM
If you mentally rotate the astronauts to a heads-up position, it is easier to grasp the concept that the 'dashboard' is directly in front of them. |
spacescribe
Member Posts: 21
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2013
|
posted 04-21-2013 02:32 PM
Ah, okay. I'm starting to get it now. Like the shuttle, did Apollo have cockpit windows or side or rear windows to look out? I remember in the Apollo 13 movie they were navigating in space via a window.Robert, where is that mockup of Apollo you sat in? I'd like to see it one day as well. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-21-2013 03:18 PM
Courtesy another collectSPACE member (SpaceAholic, aka Scott Schneeweis) here's a labeled photo showing the window locations on the Apollo command module. The rendezvous windows provided the forward view, the observation windows offered a side view.The scenes you may be remembering from "Apollo 13" however, may be from inside the lunar module, as that is when they show the timed engine burn to put them on course with a return to Earth. The Apollo CM mockup is located at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. It was originally built for the miniseries "SPACE," based on the James Michener book by the same title. Today, it is part of the museum's space camp. |
spacescribe
Member Posts: 21
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2013
|
posted 04-21-2013 04:34 PM
That information is great. Thank you.
|
advertisement