Today in History - May 5, 1961 First American in Space

[seamusTX]

On the moon walks they wore boots so that they could lace them up to get a vacuum tight seal.

They literally didn't know what they might be walking on on the moon, and it would be a really lousy time and place to get a cut or puncture in one's foot.

Inside a space craft in microgravity you might as well wear socks.

The boots seem to go all the way back to early aviators, many of whom were cavalry officers. All the comic-book superheroes, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, etc., had them, right down to Darth Vader.

- Jim

[WildBill]

On the moon walks they wore boots so that they could lace them up to get a vacuum tight seal.

They literally didn't know what they might be walking on on the moon, and it would be a really lousy time and place to get a cut or puncture in one's foot. - Jim

This is true. Some of the scientists predicted that the space craft and astronauts would sink and be swallowed into a layer of fine moondust.

[seamusTX]

Some of the scientists predicted that the space craft and astronauts would sink and be swallowed into a layer of fine moondust.

I have read that that was predicted (before my time).

However, the U.S. and USSR launched several probes that crash-landed on the moon as early as 1959. These probes clearly went splat and left craters visible from earth.

By the time Apollo 11 landed, no one thought they would sink into miles of dust any more than they thought they would be greeted by little green men with antennae. (Everyone knows now the little green men are from Titan. )

- Jim

[WildBill]

Some of the scientists predicted that the space craft and astronauts would sink and be swallowed into a layer of fine moondust.

I have read that that was predicted (before my time).

However, the U.S. and USSR launched several probes that crash-landed on the moon as early as 1959. These probes clearly went splat and left craters visible from earth.

By the time Apollo 11 landed, no one thought they would sink into miles of dust any more than they thought they would be greeted by little green men with antennae. (Everyone knows now the little green men are from Titan. )

- Jim

Remember that is was less than 10 years before the first probes reached the moon and the Apollo 11 landing so many people were still very nervous. I don't think that Neil and Buzz were too concerned about sinking into the lunar surface, but they were wearing good boots.

Prior to Project Mercury, some NASA doctors predicted that the astronaut's heart would explode in zero gravity. During the longer duration missions some doctor predicted that the astronauts would lose their muscle strength and wouldn't be able to stand up when they returned to earth's gravity. Obviously, we have learned a great deal since that time.

[seamusTX]

Prior to Project Mercury, some NASA doctors predicted that the astronaut's heart would explode in zero gravity.

There is a long history of this kind of bogus prediction.

In the 19th century, when trains and later automobiles started to reach blazing speeds like 30 MPH, the self-styled experts of the day predicted that people would suffocate because they couldn't exhale into the headwind.

Obviously these geniuses had never studied physics and also ignored the fact that people had survived hurricanes and typhoons with over 100 MPH winds.

They failed to predict decalcification of bones in long-term low gravity, but who could have without actual experiments?

I remember adults that I knew personally worrying that "moon rockets" were making holes in the sky or causing abnormal weather.

- Jim

[WildBill]

I remember adults that I knew personally worrying that "moon rockets" were making holes in the sky or causing abnormal weather. - Jim

And that is the cause of global warming.

When I was a kid, my dad told me that they taught him in engineering classes that an airplane could not go faster than the speed of sound and it would disintegrate before reaching that speed.

[seamusTX]

That actually happened to the first few airplanes that exceeded the speed of sound—probably by accident during dives, though some that were intended to "break the sound barrier" broke up in flight or crashed due to loss of control.

- Jim

[mgood]

When I was a kid, my dad told me that they taught him in engineering classes that an airplane could not go faster than the speed of sound and it would disintegrate before reaching that speed.

Speaking of The Right Stuff

THERE WAS A DEMON
THAT LIVED IN THE AIR.

THEY SAID WHOEVER
CHALLENGED HIM WOULD DIE.

THEIR CONTROLS
WOULD FREEZE UP,

THEIR PLANES
WOULD BUFFET WILDLY,

AND THEY
WOULD DISINTEGRATE.

THE DEMON LIVED
AT MACH 1 ON THE METER,

750 MILES AN HOUR,

WHERE THE AIR COULD NO LONGER
MOVE OUT OF THE WAY.

HE LIVED BEHIND A BARRIER

THROUGH WHICH THEY SAID
NO MAN COULD EVER PASS.

THEY CALLED IT
THE SOUND BARRIER.

. . . .

THE X-1 IS READY
TO HAVE A GO.

IT'S GOT THE ANSWER
TO GO BEYOND MACH 1.

IF THERE IS ANY BEYOND.

SO, WHAT DO
YOU THINK, YEAGER?

HALF THESE ENGINEERS
NEVER BEEN OFF THE GROUND.

THEY'RE LIABLE
TO TELL YOU

THE SOUND BARRIER'S
A BRICK WALL IN THE SKY.

I DON'T BELIEVE
THE [darn] THING EVEN EXISTS.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=cE2t6Sg_H74[/youtube]