Originally posted by Ghost01
Hi John,
I've heard you mention the 4th astronaut on the Apollo spacecraft before. At that time, it seemed as if you were saying he was along for the
flight.
No I never said that. This was several weeks before the actual launch. It was a dress rehersal. This was a 'plugs out' test. There was no
possibility of a 4th astronaut going along for a flight; there was no seat, no room, no nothing for a 4th astronaut. Apollo was designed for 3
astronauts and thats how many flew it. There is no way I said or implied that a 4th astronaut was going along for the flight.
However, after reading this thread, I got the impression that he was just in the capsule to help with launch preperation
He, Joe Shea and one or two others took turns in troubleshooting. Again, this was several weeks before the actual launch, it was just a test.
and climbed out again before the final count down.
No, all of them burned up. Nobody climbed out. This was not a final countdown. It was a test. A 'plugs out' test. Nobody was going into space.
Nobody was going to climb out just before launch because there was not going to be a launch.
This was not a 'buddy crew' help where you help your friend fasten his seat belt. This was not an SR-71. It was not an everyday 'get ready for
launch' it was a test, a practice.
If this is the case, why would it have been a secret?
It was not a secret. Everybody knew about the test. What was a secret was who was helping in the troubleshooting. It didn't happen to be Joe Shea
that day it was one of the astronauts from the 'secret NASA astronaut corps'. I don't know why he was there that day. Maybe he was just filling in
for Joe Shea. But the fact is he was there and he burned up. And there was no way to explain to the public and the press who the 4th guy was because
his existence was a secret. It would have exposed the 'secret corps'.
So NSA went in right after the fire, sealed off the area, removed the 4th body, took it away and then let the regular NASA guys take over and remove
the 3 other bodies. I think it took another 6 hours. The total time from the time NSA came in, got the 4th body out and let NASA in was about 45
minutes. It had to be done quickly so that the time line would be believable.
This seems to me like the "Bubby Crews" in the SR-71 Blackbird. It was another SR-71 pilot who helped the crew get the plane ready for it's
mission. There was nothing secret about it.
I guess you don't understand. This was not an SR-71 and it was not like a "buddy crew" helping Grissom, White and Chaffee get ready for launch.
There was to be no launch. It was a test. It was just practice. And the 4th astronaut was in there instead of Joe Shea helping out.
Can you shead some light on why this would have been a secret?
Tim, I am trying the best I can but it seems that you just don't understand what the problem is here. It was not an SR-71 and it was not like an
SR-71. SR-71's are proven airplanes and launch all day long. This was Apollo's first flight. The very first one. They did not have 'buddy crews'
helping them fasten their seat belts. They were trying to sort out hundreds of problems relating to the launch.