Hi everyone,
One of the things that has always bothered me and cast doubt in my mind about the Apollo missions was the absence of airlocks in both the lunar and command modules. NASA goes to great lengths (at least according to them) to insulate the exterior of these crafts to protect the interior from outer space's harsh environment. Yet, on occasion, they allowed the vacuum of space into the interior of these crafts for sometimes hours on end. The two occasions that really stand out in which the interior was exposed to the vacuum of space for long periods of time was the A17 command module space walk and the A11 EVA from the lunar module. In both cases, the hatch is wide open and there is no airlock. In fact, the A11 lunar module hatch door doesn't even have an outside door handle to shut the door. What sort of planning is this? Shutting the door would not have stopped the vacuum of space from entering but it would have stopped any potential harmful dust floating around from entering the cabin.
What is clear with the absence of an airlock, the interior/cabin of these modules would be subjected to the harsh cold temperatures of outer space. Given the interiors are shaded and insulated from the sun's radiation, everything within the interior would fall to an unimaginable cold temperature very quickly. We are talking upwards of 200 Celsius drop or more from depressurization. How did many of the interior components not fail? Some many argue that all these components were designed to operate in extreme cold temperatures. This is simply not true. By NASA's own admission, many components such as batteries, glass, operating boards, water etc would fail even under much much 'warmer' temps. One just has to look at the water gun line to see it is not insulated to withstand extreme cold temperatures. Another simple example was the DAC camera mounted in the window. During the A11 EVA, it filmed perhaps the most iconic footage of all the missions as Neil and Buzz planted the American flag for the first time. See below 17:52 to 21:30 of the video (as an aside, check out the 20:23 mark and shadows of the two astronauts. According to their bios, they are suppose to be same height. Yet the shadow of the right astronaut is 33 percent longer)
The question you have to ask, is how this footage was possible given the cabin was in the shaded vacuum of space? First off, the lens should have probably cracked. Coldness doesn't necessarily break glass, but quick extreme temp swings will. And even if the lens didn't crack, what about the batteries? It used nickel-cadmium batteries (like the Hasselblad). Even today they don't function below -25 C. So how did the DAC function? You can ask the same question regarding the Hasselblad. Even better, how about the Lunar Rover? NASA's own documentation states the battery will not "survive" below -40 C. Yet that battery worked like a champ in all conditions, uncovered to the sun's radiation (heat is actually worse) to being covered (shaded) in the cold of outer space. But for us, 50 years later it is still a coin flip to get a car battery to start in even -35 C weather. (Talk to Telsa and their issues with batteries and cold). In any event, I guess one could argue that the Rover and Hasselblad had exposure to the sun's radiation while on EVA's to moderate temps, the same can't be said about this DAC and its A11 EVA footage. It was filming in the shaded cold vacuum of space. How was that done?
Even if none of the components of the interior failed from the exposure of the vacuum of space, there is a second problem I think is very hard to overcome. After A11 EVA ended, for instance, the astronauts returned to the cabin, jettisoned their PLSS's, re-introduced oxygen into the interior and then were seen in t-shirts/helmet off, glove less in what appeared to be "room" temperatures. The question is how did they do that? More specifically, how did they 'reheat', for lack of a better term, all the components inside the interior quickly and safely. This had to have been done prior to the introduction of oxygen/air into the interior. Otherwise it would make the situation even worse. So in the vacuum of space, what scientific process will pull the temperature of all these interior 'shaded' components up an incredible 200 Celsius, fast, efficiently and not destroy anything so the astronauts can be helmet less and be able eat and drink at leisure a short time later? Is it radiation? It is conduction? Is it magic? (ok just kidding) Is it convection? And is there schematic NASA documentation on how this would work and how it would not affect the astronauts even if they are suited? Thanks.
