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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo program training | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program_training | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:33:03.169458+00:00 | kb-cron |
The use of underwater neutral buoyancy to train for spacewalks was not part of NASA's original plan. Initial EVA preparation relied on parabolic aircraft flights (which produced only about 30 seconds of weightlessness per cycle), air-bearing surfaces, and overhead suspension rigs. The technique's development was driven by the Gemini EVA crisis of 1966, when astronauts on Gemini IX, X, and XI experienced severe overheating, visor fogging, and exhaustion while attempting to perform tasks outside the spacecraft. The key innovations came from Environmental Research Associates (ERA), a small company near Baltimore founded by Sam Mattingly and Harry Loats. Beginning in 1964 under contract to Langley Research Center, ERA conducted experiments in a rented swimming pool at the McDonogh School in Maryland using borrowed Navy Mark IV pressure suits weighted with lead to achieve neutral buoyancy in all six degrees of freedom. Through trial and error, the ERA team developed the safety protocols, suit-weighting techniques, and procedural methods that constituted what Neufeld and Charles termed a "small technological system." In September 1966, Buzz Aldrin became the first astronaut to use neutral buoyancy for mission-specific training when he rehearsed his Gemini XII spacewalk tasks in the McDonogh pool. He subsequently completed a then-record three EVAs without the difficulties that had plagued earlier missions, and attributed his success largely to the underwater preparation. In early 1967, MSC installed its own Water Immersion Facility (WIF) in Building 5—a circular above-ground pool 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter and 16 feet (4.9 m) deep. For Apollo, the WIF served both to rehearse contingency procedures (such as emergency crew transfer between the LM and Command Module) and to simulate one-sixth-gravity surface conditions by adjusting suit weighting. Neil Armstrong's suit was weighted in the WIF in April 1969 to approximate lunar gravity for surface-activity practice. Apollo 17 astronaut Ronald Evans used the WIF to rehearse the deep-space EVA he would perform during the return from the Moon, retrieving film canisters from the Service Module's Scientific Instrument Module bay. In parallel, Marshall Space Flight Center independently developed neutral buoyancy capability in a repurposed 25 feet (7.6 m)-diameter explosive-forming tank, initially for Orbital Workshop (later Skylab) tasks. Marshall's work began in 1965–1966 with engineer Charles Cooper and colleague Charles Stokes experimenting with pressure suits in a smaller tank.
=== Other EVA training methods ===
A large vacuum chamber at MSC duplicated lighting intensity and temperature under vacuum conditions. Parabolic flights in a modified KC-135 aircraft ("Vomit Comet") remained in use throughout Apollo and were considered the most realistic of the reduced-gravity platforms for evaluating tools and procedures, though each period of reduced gravity lasted only about 30 seconds. Full-dress rehearsals in the final months before each mission integrated the science timeline with Mission Control simulations, coordinating the astronauts, flight controllers, and principal investigators who would staff the science support rooms during the actual missions.
== Photography training ==
Over the several years prior to the Moon missions, scientific and photographic training was provided to the astronauts. They were encouraged to take training cameras on trips to become more familiar with the camera operation and to enhance their photographic technique. Tutorials were provided to the crews on the equipment, its operation, and on the scientific purposes. The crews visited geologic sites in Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii, frequently simulating their lunar traverse, completely outfitted with sample bags, checklists, simulated backpacks, lunar rock hammer, core-sampling equipment, and typically using Hasselblad EL cameras similar to those they would use on the Moon. As the use of the camera was mostly automated, the most crucial training was in pointing the camera which was attached to their chest control packs for the suit's environmental control system. The astronaut would point his body in order to aim the cameras. Films taken during the practice exercises were processed and returned to the crewmen who would study the results.
== Legacy == Artemis 2 crew members trained in Iceland in 2023, visiting volcanic terrain near Vatnajökull that Apollo-era geologists had first selected in 1965. The USGS Astrogeology Science Center, established in Flagstaff to support Apollo, continues to operate and developed the Terrestrial Analogs for Research and Geologic Exploration Training (TARGET) program in 2019 to provide analog-site resources for future lunar and planetary missions.
== See also == Geology of the Moon Astronaut Monument in Iceland for astronauts who trained there
== References ==
=== Sources === Phinney, William C. (2015). Science Training History of the Apollo Astronauts (PDF) (Report). NASA. NASA/SP-2015-626.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
== Further reading == Official reports Bailey, Norman G. (1967). Interagency Report: Astrogeology 2. Cinder Lake Crater Field Location Test (PDF) (Report). Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey. Mission Training Program for the Apollo Lunar Landing Mission (PDF) (Report). Houston, Texas: NASA Manned Spacecraft Center. 1968. Books King, Elbert A. (1989). Moon Trip. A Personal Account of the Apollo Program and its Science. Wilhelms, Don E. (1993). To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1065-8. Other Manaugh, Geoff; Twilley, Nicola (January 23, 2013). "When We Blew Up Arizona to Simulate the Moon". The Atlantic. "Underwater astronaut on the Moon". European Space Agency. September 12, 2013. "Behind the Scenes of a NASA 'Moonwalk' in the Arizona Desert". NASA Science. July 1, 2024.
== External links == Media related to Apollo program training at Wikimedia Commons