An odd post over at the Apoolo Moon Hoax page detailing a list of mission delays to Apollo launches, no doubt prompted by Artemis II being put back a month, I;ve attached the original post, and broken it down below.
were there any delays in the Apollo missions?
Apollo 8: no problems, no delays
So far so good!
Apollo 9: launch delayed several months due to LM problems
Nope. The launch was delayed by three days after the crew contracted colds. As there wasn't a 'launch window' as such, it didn't cause too many issues. According to this page
https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years-ago-four-months-until-the-moon-landing/it was the reason why pre-launch quarantine was introduced.
Apollo 10: no problems no delays
Almost, but not quite. The launch was re-scheduled from May 1st to May 17th in order to get conditions on the moon that would better match those for the planned Apollo 11 launch window.
Apollo 11: launch delayed for 2 hours and 40 minutes, there was a faulty fuel tank valve sensor and they electrically inhibited (bypassed) that single “valve closed” discrete data package so the launch commit logic would ignore it
Not true. It launched at the exact time it was supposed to, however bear the above in mind when we get to Apollo 17.
Apollo 12: during countdown, the craft was struck twice by lightning within a few seconds from each other, the telemetry data went bad, an actual camera which had been set to auto roll managed to capture the first of the lighting strikes... the lighting strikes had caused an under voltage in electrical buses, within seconds after the lightning strike, they were told to switch the SCE (Signal Conditioning Equipment) from the normal mode (main spacecraft power) to the auxiliary mode (alternative internal power path)... which allowed for the systems to reset and within 10 minutes they were told that all systems were go again
Again, almost but not quite. Yes, they were struck by lightning and the famous 'SCE to AUX' instruction resolved the situation, but it was not during countdown - it was during the actual launch. The lightning strikes were captured by TV cameras.
Apollo 13: Launch delayed for one month due to crew health and spacecraft issue, during the delay engineers replaced or refurbished sensors, valves within the Fuel cell components, Oxygen tank instrumentation, ECS sensors and relays
The launch was indeed put back by a month, but this was more related to a desire to spread launches out - partly from budget cuts, partly from a desire by the lunar receiving laboratory to get more samples from previous missions processed before getting a new batch. There was a hitch with a valve closure in one of the rocket stages, resolved before launch with no countdown interruption, and a premature engine shut down during the ascent to orbit, but this didn't cause any further problems.
Apollo 14: no problems, no delays
Well, there's the obvious delay brought on by Apollo 13's more famous problems, and if we're talking problems there was the issue with docking. Launch itself was put back by 40 minutes thanks to the weather - a protocol brought in after Apollo 12's strike. This edition of JSC's 'Roundup'
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/201696936 reports changes in launch time and procedures as a result of Apollo 13. This edition
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/201696958 also reported problems, but no change to the previously revised date.
Apollo 15: launch delayed for 26 hours while they had to replace a faulty oxidizer flow sensor
Again, not true. The launch occurred exactly as planned.
Apollo 16: One-month delay due to command-module vibration concerns, solved by upgrading the pogo suppressors in the S-IC first-stage LOX feed system
There was a 1 month delay, but not (it seems) related to any of these issues. Suit modifications, docking ring checks (after Skylab testing revealed a problem) and lunar module power checks were all contributors to the delay. The entire rocket was rolled back to the VAB to replace a tank damaged by over-pressurisation.
Apollo 17: launch delayed for 24 hours, a faulty memory bit was corrected by a system reboot and reloading of the data
Not true. The delay was 2 hours and 40 minutes and a result of a sensor failing to recognise a manual pressurisation of tank, which was done after automatic processes failed. The sensor was by-passed.
If anything the post harms the standard "nothing ever went wrong with Apollo" narrative, but it's the basic errors that grate. I was able to cobble the above together with just basic background knowledge and a quick fact check on the internet. No doubt my understanding will have shortfalls, but the difference is that I didn't just swallow an AI output whole, and I was prepared to check my facts.
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