Why Lunar Landers Had Jumper Cables For Emergencies 

Fun fact: according to NASA, in case the crew couldn't jump start the lander, one of the astronauts would've needed to push the module fast enough so the other astronaut could start the engine using the clutch.

I just imagine reading that manual while being stranded on the moon, I think I would be relieved that I had some options.

Somedays I think I've seen it all, then Scott comes at me with a title like this

One of those "Well you've got the rest of your career to fix this problem".

I like step 32: "Perform Cabin Repressurization with descent O2 _ if available_ "

In the 2020s: "How to jumpstart your spaceship using your smartphone's wireless charger"

30 minutes of air to do all that? Sure for your average astronaut... Me? Used in 5 seconds of panicking the hell out...

"I'm Scott Manley, fly safe." Look pal, you gotta face facts. That ceased being an option long before the space jumper cables came out.

This makes me wonder if spaceship jumper cables are mandatory today and international standardised.

This is the craziest thing I've ever heard of from the Apollo program.. Thought I was pretty knowledgeable, but Scott, you win the prize with this one.

The density of human thought that goes into every tiny detail is absolutely staggering.

"Getting roadside assistance on the surface of the Moon is basically impossible". And you've got to be standing by the LM when they get there, and you have to have taken your card out of your wallet before you put the spacesuit on.

It's so cool to see the long take of the ascent. Usually it's cut away, but with this at around :52 you can see it pitch over to orbit quickly instead of straight up for awhile. I guess since there's so little atmosphere on the moon.

"Triple-A? We have a problem. Our spacecraft wont start." "Are you parked in a safe place?"

Funny enough, I did once jump start a helicopter, which had a battery that had run down due to the DC bus being turned on overnight so the security guards could use the aircraft radio to listen to broadcast FM. Helped that I did my apprenticeship on that model, and knew the entire electrical system, and also the pitfalls that could occur with them running the battery down, and what to look for. Ground power unit and the ground power connection, start the ground power unit and power up the DC bus, and they press start. Low current, the ground support unit is designed to supply 8kA at 28VDC, and this little turbo barely made it to 400A during start, so after a half minute of idle, pulled the cable ( only way, there is no disconnect other than a sense contact on the plug), waited another 5 minutes at idle to see if the battery was not going to go into thermal runaway, it was still cold so gave them a clearance to take off back. As well used another ground support unit to jump an ambulance that had waited 6 hours for the casevac to get there, with lights on, and there had to grab jumper leads to make the link between the connector and the battery. those lights went very bright on 28V instead of 24, and that ammeter needle did not even budge off the zero during the very very vigorous starting. As to the LRV batteries being used to fire the ascent stage probably no issue, the batteries certainly were the same chemistry, they used a similar enough voltage. The major issue was the disconnection, as the LRV batteries would stay behind, and the ascent stage needed power to keep the valving operational, so they designed the systems to get you power from an alternate set of ascent batteries if the main ones failed, but use batteries on the ascent stage. You could not have kept the mass centre stable if you used the LRV battery pack and carried it with, no real space to place it (otherwise they would have had equipment or battery pack there already) and also it would move the mass centre from the engine bell outside the ability of the RCS system to compensate for the eccentricity. Silver Zinc batteries are heavy, and are only used in space applications because they are so reliable and tolerant to abusive temperatures and charge and discharge use, unlike the modern lithium chemistries. Thus you can have a smaller battery pack for the same high current draw, and not have to worry too much about it cycling from -100C to +200C every orbit.

"Spacecraft: They're just like complicated cars." -- Scott Manley

And to think I rolled my eyes while reading The Martian when Mark Watney jumpstarted Pathfinder...

Concerning the question of jumpstarting from the rover: The screenshot posted at 07:04 reads like connecting the power instantly activates the engine and the explosive bolts. So you can probably jumpstart from the rover, but whoever does that stays behind and watches.

That's the beauty of electricity, electrons are electrons, no matter what you use them for, you can modulate amps and voltage, switch them around and power (almost) anything

I work for AAA and can confirm 100% absolutely zero lunar roadside coverage.

Another great video Scott!! The Apollo program is close to my heart, as my late father worked on the Apollo program. He was a Technical draftsman who worked for Bell Aerospace here in Western New York. In 1967 our family moved to Houston Tx. for 2 years so my father could work on the Lunar Lander Training Vehicle (LLTV). The late Neil Armstrong had to eject out of one of them when the craft became unstable after the directional control system failed, there is footage of it on RU-vid. I actually got to meet Neil Armstrong at Ellington AFB near Houston, I was 7 years old. Keep up the great work!! Fly Safe Mate!!

I can imagine spacecraft from the 70s being less complicated than modern cars. It's just... Every bit was necessary...

They also had another repair fail safe item called a hammer, with instructions to "hit it like a mad Russian".

Dude. You absolutely make my life so much happier every time I see your clips. Cause humans are amazing and the future is exciting!

Jumper cables from Kubrick's car, the studio was so far from town.

I grew up during the Apollo program, and like most kids at the time, I was fascinated by space flight. I have always considered myself to be pretty knowledgeable concerning our space program, in particular of course, the Apollo era. Having said that, I always learn something new from you. Thanks. Well, you and that Hot little number from Vintage Space, Amy Teitel.

Great insights on this issue, Scott. It just shows the depth of predictive engineering from those days.

Guy goes in bar, wearing a jacket, collared shirt, and jumper cables tied around his neck. Maitre d' looks at him as says, Fine, you may come in, but don't start nothing.

Brilliant. Leaving the hatch open should fix any fire problems.

Now can we do this to recharge a certain Tesla Roadster?

One time my brother and I were playing a round of KSP with the dark multi-player mod. We had many mods but the one of importance was the life support system, I think it was the now defunct tac life support mod. We we're both doing Mun missions at the same time. My lander design had plenty of battery storage and power production via solar while my brother's design did not. After a few quick calculations my brother realized that his kerbal will not have enough power to run life support for the trip home. Luckily both our landers were designed to hit 2 biomes. We ended up meeting up in a crater and with KAS/KIS he was able to pull a solar panel and an battery off of my craft and place it on his, enough to power his life support for the return trip. Coolest part of the story is that he was playing in Ukraine while I was playing in Montana.

Also when performing this emergency procedure they would be very, very frightened. The Right Stuff indeed.

A very obscure tidbit of coolness. Thanks Scott.

Great video Scott! I've read 25 or more books pertaining to Apollo, and had not heard of this until now!

My dad was a Mechanical Engineering in Crew Systems until 1975. He was called back to work on a Wednesday. He came home Friday. He said they made this thing from usable items on the Space Craft. They radioed up telling how to make it. They had 1 hour of oxygen left. What a time. To grow up with your dad as a NASA Engineer.

The scene from Red Planet where Gallagher steals AMEE battery and jumpstart the spacecraft really interest me. But then now i realized there's a real life procedure with the Apollo ascent module is really mind-blowns me

Scott mentions launching LM upper ascent stage with the _jumper cables_ still dangling from the main hatch of the upper stage. The FIRST THING I envisioned was someone driving away from a [gasoline/petrol] service station in their vehicle with the refueling nozzle and hose STILL ATTACHED TO THE VEHICLE...😊

"ground control equipment used to start a booster" hmmm. Do the Soyuz matchsticks qualify? :)

Awesome content! I really enjoy learning about contingency procedures, it shows how far down in the weeds the engineers had to go (an how creative they could be).

Scott thank you for making all these wonderful videos to watch. The details and explanations you give make understanding everything that you talk about enjoyable to watch and learn.

I love these kinds of videos Scott, you're pretty cool 🙂

Standard operational procedure in KSP.

I like the fact that the Lego model of the Lunar Module is detailed enough to illustrate Scott's point regarding centre of mass :-).

That was a great topic for a vid Scott and you communicate the content with excellent clarity. Now I'm gonna search for these procedures you spoke about.

A Moon landing simulation should really be a thing in VR sometime within the next year or two. It would sell big time.

November, 1965, when the Northeast US had a major blackout. . . To get the FIRST powerplant of the grid running they needed “inplant power”, which they did not have. So they used employees’ cars, with jumper cables to get the first plant fired up.

This needs to done in a movie/documentary!!

what's a great video. saw your earlier tweet on the procedure and was really hoping for a vid. thanks.!

Thanks a lot: exactly the kind of technical details I enjoy !

The ascent engine tanks were the same size. One was just placed farther out to account for density of the contents.

Once again I've learned something about Apollo that I absolutely did not know. Thanks, Scott!

I have always hoped that over time all legitimate questions about ALL details would have answers come forth. The Apollo Handbook you featured is very interesting and I will look at it closely. Thanks in advance.

Taking off from the lunar surface in a convertible! Wow.

Starting a spacecraft with jumper leads? Airplane II: The Sequel. All I'm saying :)

Thanks Scott. Your insights into Space add more sanity to Earth I loved your heads up on SpaceEngine, cheers

It's still pretty amazing they pulled off all the landings without major incident. Compared to lifting off the Earth, the lift off from the Moon was so much easier. The ascent engine on the LM has long fascinated me because it acted as the invisible umbilical between the Moon's surface and the orbiting CSM - the Moon walker's lives were dependent on it working. Because of the ascent engine's constant thrust the moment the engine had to cut off was time critical. In the Orbiter AMSO simulator you can see the shape of the orbit changing faster and faster as the ship gets to a safe orbit altitude. I've done this manually several times and it's quite a roller coaster ride even on a desktop setup! The track lineup with the CSM has to be pin sharp otherwise you're off plane. There's usually very little fuel left after the launch to Lunar orbit from the surface even with an optimum ascent curve, so every burn of the quad RCS system has to count in order to rendezvous with the CSM. That makes the real life event even more mind numbingly amazing. There's one more thing. At the scale that we exist, all these things actually become possible - something everyone should stop and think very carefully about.

I like to start a rocket booster by dropping a lighted match in the fuel Edit: thanks for the likes!

"Roadside assistance on the moon is basically impossible" "Basically"??

This guys were so good! Planed so well...the more I learn the more impressed I am on the feat.

Thanks for sharing those technical tidbits, which make it even more "real" to us space-buffs! ATB, Gereon

Jumpstarting a spaceship just sounds like it came out of Kerbal Space Program.

Aaaaah, that's why they sent starman to space :D Hope they didn't forget to put the cables in the trunk.

Man, Manely. You must read non-stop to find these nuggets. Well done! yet again.

WILD!! - Thx for digging this up

When your LEM can't get it's self back up, time to break out the ED device...

Ah, so that's why Elon sent a car into space!

Interesting bit of obscure knowledge, thanks Scott.

Back in the 1980's a hurricane knocked out all of the power stations on the island of Kauai. You need power to start a power plant, so they needed external power. A nuclear submarine was sent from Pearl Harbor to jump start the island using their shore power cables to provide power from the nuclear powered steam turbines. In the end, the Navy flew in a large portable diesel generator and got one plant started, it got the rest started.

no push start option? Just pop the clutch! :)

"Actually I've got the model here. If you've got a model of the lunar module here ..." Rub it in Scott. Just joking .. thanks for the interesting video.

Amazing I have heard it all now! Thank you for this post Scott brilliant

Very interesting and really shows the level they went to to ensure a safe return. You've got a really cool channel and I am glad I found it. Also, cool too see Lego. You can make anything with that stuff.

Sounds like something Mark Wattney would enjoy xD

The question is, were the jumper cables color coded?

Thanks Scott.Great vid and topic. More!

Love your videos! Especially the KSP ones! Can you make a video about all of the important space missions to date? I am asking, because I am trying to recreate all of the important space missions from the beginning of the space era to present time in KSP Realism Overhaul, but I cannot find sufficient information (even with career mods). A video explaining all of the major space missions that occurred in sequence, and their objectives will be awesome both to follow in KSP and to learn something new! Thank you!

The astronauts stood in the ascent module? That's interesting

Scott Manley = Great-great-great-granfather of Lt. Cdr. Montgomery Scott, Star Fleet

Absolutely amazing! Great video!

I love these videos. The combination of subject matter, that gets the mind wandering to all sorts of different places , and the Scottish brogue of the presenter means that I have never actually got through one without falling asleep. They’re the best insomnia cure, next to the Jeff Bridges sleep tapes, that I’ve ever had. The sad thing is I now know about half the relevant information about loads of things to do with space flight.

Amy! Vintage space is falling behind this sounds like it should’ve been one of your videos ! 🤷‍♂️

Hi Scott Manley. Can you please make a video on how the SpaceX dragon deorbits and gets away from the ISS. I am wondering this because the dragon does not have engines.

Scott Manley covers very engaging topics. He is amazing!

Makes you wonder about and appreciate all of the other abnormal and emergency procedures that there were for all of these spacecraft. Few are aware the thick book of these procedures for airliners which are less complex than the CM & LM.

Hi scott, can you please make a video on how exactly they rendezvous with the orbiter after leaving the moon. it always confused me how they basically did a full docking procedure with a module moving so fast with so little room for error and so few supplies and resources (air fuel food water ect.) obviously the launch would be very well timed, but if the engine lacks gimballing and they only have RCS for navigation during the launch , not to mention how low the mass of the lunar launch vehicle was (astronaut sneezes and knocks them a couple of degrees of course) how exactly would they do what is effectively the same as docking with the ISS with so little redundancy on such an unstable craft.

Foolish question: if they had already 'thrown out their life support systems' why couldn't they just use the 30min of air to reconstitute their original system?

Another great one! Thanks Scott.

IF you can find someone who has a VR headset and look at the lunar landing wearing it, VR has been disappointing but that one experience is almost worth the money to view, the real scale of this is amazing and the landing terrifying. Thanks again for another great presentation Scott

>they could take in the fuel, i mean oxygen Scott is starting to think like Elon. Too many hours on Kerbal I assume.

There's no need. Just call the AAA.

Thank you for doing your channel. You have some interesting thing you explain and someone simple like me can understand them.

Another brilliant video. Loved it

No roadside assistance on the moon?. pff. Time to cancel my AAA service. if they do not cover the moon, it's useless! :P

Dang, 0.3 percent dislike ratio. Like safe.

Great stories. Gave me a chuckle.

Use the lunar rover ... as something to stand on. I can think of a few times I've used my car like that, such as to reach some rather tasty-looking apples on a tree in a parking lot. I can just imagine the engineer thinking of that solution, thinking back to the various things he'd done in his life, and remembering a time he parked his car under something he wanted to reach and climbed on top of it, thinking "Aha, they've got a car, use that!"

I'm a simple man. Because men are simple......

More boosters

Finally some one talks about the "What IF" scenarios. My biggest concern would be I'm standing outside and watching that LM going skyward after touching the wrong contacts. Neil's famous words would not even compare to my now infamous words, "Oops, wrong one". Anything on their desert island survival training?

Great video scott!