Hi, John. Fellow Substack space writer here. I just subscribed to The Space Shot.
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I first noticed the plume deflectors when I was building the 1:40 scale Revell Lunar Module model as a kid (way) back in 1969. The best references for the LEM I had at the time were a set of posters from NASA. One of those showed Buzz Aldrin setting up the ALSEP on the lunar surface, with the LEM in the background. The lighting and angle of the LEM was such that it was difficult to make out the shape of the deflectors, and the model kit didn't include them. So, I did what any enterprising nascent engineer would do - I guessed. I had a broken 1:96 scale Apollo CSM model, also by Revell. I sawed out triangular shapes from the Service Module, which seemed to have the right curvature. Then I made support rods from surplus telephone wire. I think I still have that model somewhere. It was only much later in life that I discovered that the actual shape of the deflectors was almost rectangular trapezoids. Chalk that one up to a lesson in perspective.
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I've been wondering when they discovered the need for the plume deflectors. I'm guessing it was during the Apollo 9 mission, since they weren't on that LEM. But, I don't know if they were added for Apollo 10 before it's mission. Do you happen to know? Maybe your new engineer friend can remember.
Well there you have it ... first LEM to have plume deflectors was Apollo 11. Thanks for finding that. And, thanks for adding your name to the 'Creating Space' subscriber list. I hope you enjoy it!
Happy to have ya onboard! I’m pretty sure the plume deflectors were there during Apollo 9. Let me look into it and I’ll get back to ya :)
Hi there.
I am a personal friend of the initial designer of the Plume Defectors.
The PDs were on the Apollo 11 LEM.
Just now seeing this, my wife and I just welcomed our first baby into this world :) That’s super cool you know him, I hope I got the details right!
Hi, John. Fellow Substack space writer here. I just subscribed to The Space Shot.
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I first noticed the plume deflectors when I was building the 1:40 scale Revell Lunar Module model as a kid (way) back in 1969. The best references for the LEM I had at the time were a set of posters from NASA. One of those showed Buzz Aldrin setting up the ALSEP on the lunar surface, with the LEM in the background. The lighting and angle of the LEM was such that it was difficult to make out the shape of the deflectors, and the model kit didn't include them. So, I did what any enterprising nascent engineer would do - I guessed. I had a broken 1:96 scale Apollo CSM model, also by Revell. I sawed out triangular shapes from the Service Module, which seemed to have the right curvature. Then I made support rods from surplus telephone wire. I think I still have that model somewhere. It was only much later in life that I discovered that the actual shape of the deflectors was almost rectangular trapezoids. Chalk that one up to a lesson in perspective.
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I've been wondering when they discovered the need for the plume deflectors. I'm guessing it was during the Apollo 9 mission, since they weren't on that LEM. But, I don't know if they were added for Apollo 10 before it's mission. Do you happen to know? Maybe your new engineer friend can remember.
Also, I found an answer. I need to buy the book, but there's a great thread on Collect Space about this subject. http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/001718.html
Well there you have it ... first LEM to have plume deflectors was Apollo 11. Thanks for finding that. And, thanks for adding your name to the 'Creating Space' subscriber list. I hope you enjoy it!