What is it? Answers CXX

Friday, June 09, 2006

684. Reliable blasting machine









685. Neil Armstrong's back-up space suit, he would have used this suit if his other one had been defective.






These shots were taken at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum:







686. Temperature sensor, the part that looks like a wire is most likely a capillary tube filled with alcohol or mercury.

I couldn't find any similar devices on the web, but I did discover an unusual photo of a man floating on top of a pool of mercury.







687. Newspaper log roller







688. Egg carton former, put a flat cardboard carton on top and bring down the lever.








689. Gemini 8 control panel, a good diagram of the full front panel can be seen here.


Gemini 8 was the first American spaceship to have an emergency landing, from the link above:

"After backing away from the Agena, the spacecraft had started to whirl at a dizzying rate of one revolution per second. Armstrong suspected that the maneuvering thrusters were about finished. He and Scott were also having trouble seeing the overhead panel dials; their physiological limits seemed near. They were dizzy, and their vision was blurred. Something had to be done."



I took a few photos of the far panel on the right and was planning to post them though they weren't as clear as I would have liked. But then I found a site with some good close-ups from another Gemini spacecraft with similar equipment.


The answer to the question about the unusual feature on Armstrong's gloves: there were small light bulbs on the fingertips of the gloves which were used as built-in flashlights.





















Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the full post: