:36:11
Now as far as LEM 3 was concerned...
:36:14
that should have been it for me.
:36:15
I should've been able to sit back in the
SPAN room in Houston & watch the show.
:36:21
But in the early hours
of launch day...
:36:23
the pressure in one of LEM 3's fuel
tanks was reading disturbingly high.
:36:37
It's the helium tank?
:36:39
Actually, sir,
the super critical helium.
:36:43
- How's it reading now?
- Still on the edge.
:36:47
Meaning?
:36:49
Meaning we'd like to be down the middle
of the tolerance band, but we're not.
:36:53
Give me the worst case.
:36:56
When the LEM heads away from the
command module & they're throttling up...
:36:59
the tank could over-pressurize
and the burst disk could blow.
:37:02
We would lose the helium
on the descent stage.
:37:05
Now, they would not be stranded.
They'd still have the ascent engine.
:37:08
But it would kill the mission.
:37:15
Tom, I'll need the official
Grumman position on this.
:37:21
We're still within the limits.
:37:24
It'll fly.
:37:28
In the last few minutes before launch...
:37:30
I managed to put the tank pressure
problem out of my mind for a moment.
:37:35
I tried to imagine what it was like
in LEM 3 just then.
:37:39
Astronauts have said that sitting in the
command module during a countdown...
:37:43
can be almost peaceful.
:37:45
Must have been even more peaceful
in LEM 3. At least until...
:37:59
For the next ten minutes
it must have been...