Lunar Excursion Module (LEM).
November 27, 2019
By Richard White
Courtesy of Thistle Magazine
Like most of us, I have many memories of my workdays. Ones that I recall more often are my days with Grumman Aircraft. I was fortunate enough to work on Apollo 13, the “lifeboat” that went to the moon. Grumman was responsible for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) of the pro gram. I was a stress analyst involved in different areas on the spacecraft.
One of my more interesting assignments was the support for the lunar module toilet seat, for which I learned astronaut toilet habits. The toilet seat could be used only on the moon where there was gravity for the stool to drop. The toilet seat was small, only fit for buttocks and 7½ inches from front to rear. It was like a child’s potty seat with a bungee cord holding the poop bag. It was small to save weight. You may ask how the astronauts met the call of nature. Well,
Pee – Astronauts were catheterized. Pee was collected in bags that were emptied into space. A “urine dump” occurrence was reported to mission control.
Poop – was collected by astronauts with gloves. The glove and poop were put in a bag, which had a Vel cro strip and was stored on the wall of the LEM.
Apollo 13 Astronauts
Another basic job was done by Milt, also a LEM stress engineer. He was in charge of making sure Velcro bags filled with moon rocks did not fall off the LEM’s wall. One time the astronauts wanted to collect extra rocks, but they needed an OK. Eventually Milt was called at home and asked for the OK; he said no. His mother was so proud she told friends and relatives: “They called my son from the moon.”
A third LEM stress engineer worked over time for months to be sure a critical wall, called a bulkhead, would never break. To motivate himself he said he’d buy a Buick Riviera with his overtime pay. He did that. We referred to the wall as the Riviera bulkhead.
We in LEM Stress were happy, not emotional, when Aldrin and Armstrong landed on the moon. However, we were very worried.
When Mission Control was asked if this was safe, the answer was “We do not know; the LEM engine was not designed to do this.” But, in fact, it did serve as a lifeboat when one of the engines on the Command Module failed. The LEM engine was able to replace the failed engine.
I was told that, as the astronauts prepared to return to earth, they made a pact: if they ever got back to earth, safely, the astronauts would go to Grumman and shake everyone’s hand. That is hearsay.
After the astronauts returned, they walked down the aisles of my LEM stress area shaking everyone’s hand, including mine. That is a fact.
Apollo 13 Patch
Richard White is a resident of Doncaster Residents Association, which publishes Thistle magazine. We thank Al DeVito, the editor of the magazine this editorial contribution to The Peak.
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