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Author
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Topic: Apollo A7L helmet visor assembly (LEVA)
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JasonB
Member Posts: 1091
From:
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 11-19-2013 09:19 AM
   
Could someone please tell me which Apollo crews and astronauts the gold visor helmets were issued to? Was it just the moonwalkers, did the command module pilot get one too and were they issued before Apollo 11? I seem to recall seeing David Scott wearing one on Apollo 9, too. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1313
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 11-19-2013 01:42 PM
I seem to recall that only the commander and lunar module pilot on moon landing flights got the helmet with gold visors. In fact, the command module pilots on the J missions (15-17) had to "borrow" one of their crewmates' helmet/visors for the deep-space EVAs to retrieve film from the command module SIM bay. Apollo 9 was an exception because only Scott and Schweickart were scheduled for an EVA. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 11-21-2013 09:29 AM
Does anyone know if any of the gold visors were flown on second missions, i.e. were any recycled? |
space1
Member Posts: 861
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 11-21-2013 01:11 PM
The coating is susceptible to scratching, so I am sure they would not have been flown more than once. Neil Armstrong's visor at the Smithsonian has been scratched from having been opened and closed so many times over the years that curators are determined that it will never be opened again. |
JasonB
Member Posts: 1091
From:
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 01-24-2014 11:26 AM
On Apollo 11, Michael Collins didn't have or use a gold visored helmet did he? I assume he was just issued a clear visor one and had no reason to use the gold ones issued to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin but just wanted to make sure. Thanks.Editor's note: Threads merged. |
Michael Davis
Member Posts: 530
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 01-24-2014 11:26 AM
Correct. The gold visors went only to the commander and lunar module pilot. You can actually see this in the individual Apollo 11 crew portraits. Michael Collins has a standard visor and both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are fitted with the gold visor version. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1488
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 01-24-2014 01:44 PM
Technically Collins didn't have a visor. He only had a clear helmet, which Armstrong and Aldrin also had (see crew walkout on launch day). What Collins didn't have was a Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly (LEVA), which Armstrong and Aldrin attached to their helmet on orbit. |
davidcwagner
Member Posts: 810
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 01-24-2014 07:59 PM
In the 1980's, I was a bartender at an Air Force Officer's Club. An SR-71 pilot came in madder than hell because his suit tech had broken a gold visor. The pilot said the gold visor was a "hand me down" from Project Apollo. They were highly prized by SR-71 pilots because they were better than the newer acrylic gold visors. According to the pilot, the Apollo visors were quartz made by a one-man shop in California. Forming a visor out of quartz was this man's trade secret. The man died and took the secret with him according to the SR-71 pilot. Any others ever here this story? Any data on how these quartz gold visors were made? |
Kizzi
Member Posts: 32
From: Manchester, England
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 01-28-2014 03:39 PM
Here is good link discussing the physics of gold as a reflective material for space helmet visors.Towards the end, it makes a couple of interesting points. - The gold will give a green/blue hue to objects viewed through the visor. Perhaps the moon appeared to be made of Stilton?
- Gold is good at reflecting IR wavelengths (heat) but poor at reflecting UV. Fortunately, poly-carbonate is good at absorbing UV. Which made me remember from my physics lab days using a UV lamp. Quartz doesn't absorb UV at all. So it's unlikely the visors would have been made of that.
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Explorer1
Member Posts: 180
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019
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posted 04-12-2020 01:24 AM
With the Apollo Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly I believe there were three visors - the first being a transparent visor, the second being a sun visor and the third being a gold visor. What was the official name of each visor?And did the visor assembly helmet used on Apollo 9 have the same three visors? Editor's note: Threads merged. |
oly
Member Posts: 971
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 04-12-2020 02:31 AM
The official name of the visor assembly was the LEVA (Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly). There were two versions, the one used on Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, and a second version used on subsequent missions. The latter version had a clear protective visor, and the gold sun visor, and eye-shades consisting of a left and right section, and a center section with a hinged flap. The LEVA assembly was a cover designed to fit over the clear bubble helmet of the Apollo spacesuits. There are some good images and details available at this website and also from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. |
Explorer1
Member Posts: 180
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019
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posted 04-12-2020 05:38 AM
Please allow me to be more specific. As I understand it, the very first visor of the LEVA is transparent. This might be referred to as the protective visor. So any time we see an astronaut's face through his helmet on the moon, it means that just the transparent protective visor has been pulled down. It also means that there are two other visors that are still in a retracted position. Then there is the second visor of the assembly. And this coated shaded visor which almost completely hides the astronaut's face from view and offers the first layer of blocking out some of the sunlight. In the famous shot of Buzz Aldrin standing in profile facing the flag, Aldrin has this visor (visor number 2) pulled down. And what this means is that Aldrin was using two visors at this point; visor number 1 which is the protective visor pulled all the way down, and visor number 2 which is the shaded visor also pulled all the way down. And visor number 3, the gold visor, is in a retracted position. I would like to know the name of visor number 2, the shaded visor. Then there is the gold visor and I am wondering if it has any special name other than the "gold visor." |
oly
Member Posts: 971
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 04-12-2020 08:30 AM
The clear bubble helmet worn by the astronauts during their walkout to the crew transfer vehicle are also worn on the surface of the moon during EVA.The LEVA assembly, which fits over the bubble helmet, is clamped at the neck ring, and has two visors that the astronauts can lower and look through. The first visor that can be lowered is used to protect the bubble helmet from scratches and damage. It is called the protective visor. The second visor is gold colored, and acts as sunglasses for the astronauts. It is coated in gold, and designed to reflect light, heat, and radiation (light and heat are forms of radiation) and is called the sun visor. There are also three sun shields that can be lowered to block all light. One on each side and a center unit that has a small hinged flap. The LEVA is also covered in a white micrometeorite fabric cover that acts to insulate the helmet. |
Explorer1
Member Posts: 180
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019
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posted 04-12-2020 08:35 AM
The Apollo 12 LEVAs had just two shades I believe. A right one and a left one. And the three shade configuration first appeared with the Apollo 13 LEVAs.I believe the Apollo 11 helmets also had two shades just like the Apollo 12 helmets but they were never used. I can't recall what the acronym was for the Apollo 9 EVA helmet was called. And I presume it had two visors including a gold one, is this correct? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 04-12-2020 08:55 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Explorer1:
...but they were never used.
Armstrong is seen using the side eyeshade in photos AS11-40-5886 and AS11-40-5894. |
Explorer1
Member Posts: 180
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019
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posted 04-12-2020 09:02 AM
Please have a look at the Apollo 11 official crew portrait with their LEVAs. They show the clear, unshaded visor I was talking about which suggests the LEVA has three visors.I have never seen a shot of Armstrong or Aldrin using their gold visors on the moon. I assume there aren't any. Did they ever use their gold visors in training? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-12-2020 09:26 AM
Perhaps the most famous photo taken on the moon shows Aldrin's gold visor lowered (as do most of the photos taken during the Apollo 11 EVA).The LEVA had two visors, as shown below. The Apollo 11 crew portrait was made using training versions that were tinted rather than gold-coated.  |
oly
Member Posts: 971
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 04-12-2020 09:48 AM
This image of Armstrong's flown LEVA shows the tabs used to lower the two visors and the sun shields. This image shows Armstrong's flown LEVA sun visor down. This image shows Armstrong's flown LEVA with a sun shield down Close up view of clear and sun visor tabs. Side view of Armstrong's flown LEVA. Both side sun shields lowered. Close up view of the visor and shield hinge. Visor hinge. The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal LEVA page shows a close up view of Armstrong wearing his LEVA over the bubble helmet, and later versions of the LEVA design. Apollo 14 LEVA. Armstrong's LEVA with clear visor down. quote:
Originally posted by Explorer1:
I can't recall what the acronym was for the Apollo 9 EVA helmet was called.
As found in this thread, EVVA (Extravehicular Visor Assembly). |
Explorer1
Member Posts: 180
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Apr 2019
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posted 04-12-2020 10:21 AM
This was extremely helpful. Thank you so much. |
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