RIP Jim Lovell

[Driftwood]

I wasn't there, but...
I have seen multiple sources say Apollo 13 the film had to be overly dramatized because the reality from NASA's perspective was pretty mundane. It would have made a crappy movie.
There was no "Houston ... we have a PROBLEM!" It was "Houston, uh, we have a problem."

Every problem that was overly dramatized in the movie already had a contingency in place. Maybe the media and people waited on bated breath, and maybe NASA didn't know if it would actually work, but all the emergency procedures were just a matter of turning to the right page in the flight module.

 

[BTExpress]

And some of those problems (CO2 in the LM) were created by the decision not to use the Service Module for a direct abort. Maybe it was too risky, but with it being jettisoned, no one could ever take a look and see for sure. Direct abort gets them home sooner, which avoids having to ration every ampere like crazy.

Hard to argue with the result, but maybe it didn't need to be so arduous.

 

[Driftwood]

All I know is better them than me. The movie made it seem like they had more room in there than my mind's eye leads me to believe. The fear of blowing up would have been far less than being bolted in something probably smaller than my bathroom.
Might as well stick me on a homemade sub and send me to Titanic.

 

[maumann]

All I know is better them than me. The movie made it seem like they had more room in there than my mind's eye leads me to believe. The fear of blowing up would have been far less than being bolted in something probably smaller than my bathroom.
Might as well stick me on a homemade sub and send me to Titanic.

And Apollo capsules were like camper vans compared to Gemini, which was the size of the front seat of a Volkswagen beetle. Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were squished together for 13 days on Gemini 7. I guess if you're a fighter pilot, you're used to be stuffed in a cramped space.

 

[Slacker]

The claustrophobia would have me
bat**** screaming crazy in 20 minutes.

 

[Driftwood]

And Apollo capsules were like camper vans compared to Gemini, which was the size of the front seat of a Volkswagen beetle. Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were squished together for 13 days on Gemini 7. I guess if you're a fighter pilot, you're used to be stuffed in a cramped space.

Oddly enough, I would probably do better in than setting than Apollo 13. Those guys in Gemini were busy with tasks all the time instead of nothing else to do but think about their situation. On long road trips, I'm far better off driving the entire way myself than being a passenger. When I'm behind the wheel, I have a job to do instead of literally just being along for the ride.

 

[Driftwood]

I rode in a charter bus from Tennessee to Boston and back once. Claimed an aisle seat and never had the least bit of trouble. If I needed to, I got up and moved around.
Once on a 2.5-mile, 10-minute trip in one of those 15-passenger window vans, I got shuffled all the way back to the far rear corner, and about 18 people go on, I dang near had a full-blown panic attack despite looking out and talking to myself the whole time.

Ever since, if I'm on a van like that, I stake my spot closest to the door and refuse to move for anyone for any reason. "Kind sir, would you slide in and allow a 90-year, poor, handicap grandmother to sit in your spot?" "NO! **** her. I ain't moving. She can walk."

 

[Driftwood]

My claustrophobia is really more about restrictive movement than tight spaces.
If you put me in a closet on a submarine, I'd probably sit down and take a nap until someone let me out.
If I was in the middle of a national park and someone put me in a straight jacket, I honestly think my heart would explode.

Earlier this year, I had sinus surgery. One of the things the doctor suggested was some implants in my nose. Ok. Whatever. The more I got to thinking about it, my mind started wandering to what if they put these things in there, I started having breathing troubles, and obviously couldn't get them out. About a week prior, I started sweating and got fidgety. My wife was like, "What's wrong with you?" I told her, and she said I was nuts.
Thankfully, the day of, they didn't want to go that route because I wasn't having it. They used a stainless steel rod to micofracture my sinuses and then used an electrode to cauterize them. To me, that was a far better option than having something in me I couldn't get out.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

The claustrophobia would have me
bat**** screaming crazy in 20 minutes.

TURN THIS ****ING ROCKET AROUND I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE

 

[Slacker]

TURN THIS ****ING ROCKET AROUND I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE

And yet that realization would be denied.
That's the hell of it: "Too late, pal. Godspeed."

 

[Slacker]

They once slid me into an MRI tube. Once.
I panicked and bailed. They were not happy.
Costly booking slot. And I was like, "Sorry/Not Sorry."

Ran to my car and fled the scene. Little car felt great then!

 

[I Should Coco]

The claustrophobia would have me
bat**** screaming crazy in 20 minutes.

It's funny the things that make you feel claustrophobic.

In the late 2000s we went with our kids to St. Louis (we lived in the Midwest then) and took them up the Arch. Wow, those elevators ... as a grown-ass adult I had to keep it together, but I was terrified.

But yet, I've taken six and eight-hour plane rides crammed in an economy seat and been fine -- even when there's quite a bit of turbulance. Hard to explain.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

I’ve thankfully never been claustrophobic.

But I’m not sure I was able to breathe during the coffin scene in Kill Bill.

I can’t imagine how that scene affected people who are claustrophobic.

 

[Slacker]

I was never claustrophobic in my younger years.
Just came along (and expanded) later on. Strange ...

 

[dixiehack]

I sometimes have nightmares where I’m in the back seat of a car at a bad angle and can’t get my body out. Never really been claustrophobic and these dreams only started in the last year or so. Don’t know what to make of it.

 

[Dog8Cats]

I wasn't there, but...
I have seen multiple sources say Apollo 13 the film had to be overly dramatized because the reality from NASA's perspective was pretty mundane. It would have made a crappy movie.
There was no "Houston ... we have a PROBLEM!" It was "Houston, uh, we have a problem."

Every problem that was overly dramatized in the movie already had a contingency in place. Maybe the media and people waited on bated breath, and maybe NASA didn't know if it would actually work, but all the emergency procedures were just a matter of turning to the right page in the flight module.

Not trying to say I am a student of Apollo 13, but ABC World News' obit on Lovell replayed Lovell's "Houston ... problem" line, and Lovell said, "Houston, we've had a problem."

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

My getting older freak out is sloped seats. Saw a show from the third deck at a NYC theatre a few years ago and was a little skeeved out. But not nearly as bad as I was sitting in the first row of an upper deck area at Yankee Stadium with my wife and daughter...especially as I watched my daughter dangle her feet over the railing. Freaked me out. I had to move to the top of the area. My aunt has a similar thing, so maybe it's genetic?

 

[Driftwood]

They once slid me into an MRI tube. Once.
I panicked and bailed. They were not happy.
Costly booking slot. And I was like, "Sorry/Not Sorry."

Ran to my car and fled the scene. Little car felt great then!

I've never had an MRI, and I hope I never have to. I don't understand why they can't slide you in feet first. I think if they did that, I'd be ok. In those situations, if I feel like I have a clear exit such as my head toward the open end that I could get out of, I'm fine.

I'm 100% in agreement in not being claustrophobic in my younger days. It happened the older I got. The whole reason my wishes are to be cremated and have my ashes scattered is the thought of my dead body being locked in a box for eternity freaks my out.

 

[HanSenSE]

They once slid me into an MRI tube. Once.
I panicked and bailed. They were not happy.
Costly booking slot. And I was like, "Sorry/Not Sorry."

Ran to my car and fled the scene. Little car felt great then!

Been there too. Was so terrified when I went home and spent much of the rest of the day in bed.
A couple of years ago, I needed an open MRI before a colonscopy. I called the center and told them of my previous problem, and they told me to come down and take a look at their machine if I would like. So I did. Saw the setup and it was no problem.

 

[DanOregon]

The claustrophobia would have me
bat**** screaming crazy in 20 minutes.

Being next to someone who is ****ting and pissing their pants, as I would be doing for 13 days is what would drive me nuts. Glad things have improved. I love that this is an "official" NASA video.
https://plus.nasa.gov/video/how-to-use-the-bathroom-in-space-2/