Saturn V Staging, Asteroid Deflection and Hearing Rocket Turbines - Supporter Questions, Episode 17

Ooh, fun airplane fact. Old large aircraft (like bombers) would often have a star sighting scope + sextant on them too. Navigator used to be a very important and pretty hard job.

Thank you for the mention of the book, Scott. Hoping you don't mind but I can clarify the answer to the Saturn V skirt separation question a bit. The reason they hung onto the interstage ring for 30 seconds wasn't to hang onto the ullage motors. In fact, from Apollo 15 onwards, those ullage motors on the ring had been deleted. The second stage tanks were full anyway and their internal pressure provided sufficient head to feed the engines. The reason they hung onto the ring was because the clearance between it and the engine nozzles on the second stage was a bit close. The fear was that if there was enough rotation of the two halves of the vehicle as they separated, there might be a risk of the skirt striking a nozzle. The plan was to allow the second stage to ignite and settle into its burn. By 30 seconds, the control system would have damped out any major rotation and the stage would be accelerating briskly. The ring would be cut adrift, allowing the stage to accelerate away from it before any rotation would have a chance to cause it to hit an engine.

"why did the saturn V drop its ring?" looks up, holding back tears "if you wait long enough, every saturn loses its rings."

The ring coming out from the 2nd stage is the most iconic thing from the Saturn V

One very obscure fact about the interstage: During the launch of the Skylab workshop, the interstage failed to separate because some of the separation charges were damaged by the aerodynamic incident that occured during the S-1C burn. Luckily enough tension straps remained to hold the interstage in place otherwise it could have partially separated and affected one or more of the S-II's engines while they were burning.

Loving to see casual "Saturn V owners workshop manual"

It's a baren wasteland without your work, Sir.

9:10 I like how the rocket he's describing is right behind him, but he still uses his hands to describe the situation 😂

The actual reason for the dual-plane separation on the S-II was that the engineers had concerns that the vibrations caused by the 1st stage would make the interstage bang on the engines (since there wasn't much room around them). The interstage was then jettisoned after the engines stabilized burning and the vibrations were under control

Another obvious case of hearing the turbopumps starting is the Raptor vacuum engine test that you covered previously.

Do a big 1hr+ catch up! I love hearing your thoughts on this stuff and the level of knowledge you share w YouTube

Re the space elevator and Mars. Clarke covered that in "The Fountains of Paradise" where the enterprising Martians (humans born and raised on Mars) wanted the elevator built using Mars' outer moon Deimos as a source of the raw material and as a counter-balance mass. They even had a solution for avoiding Phobos, Mars' inner moon by sending a payload up that flexed the tower in a similar manner to a guitar string. Clarke's hero was amused by the Martian's idea of turning this into a tourist attraction, imagining Phobos sailing past just a few km from the passenger car!

I love the way I get answers to questions I didn't know I had! Definitely the best space nerd channel - by a long way.

One of the ways that improved the performance on later Saturn V missions was a reduction of the number of ulage thrusters on the insterstage with them eliminated completely on the last few flights that included those with the rover.

Really enjoy these types of videos. Both hearing the varied questions but also your thoughts and solo deliberations on the many what ifs. Thanks and keep flying.

Really enjoy knowing everytime I click on one of Scott Manleys videos, im going to come away with more knowledge on a topic I love so much. Thank ya for all the work you do!

Having obtained my private, then commercial and instrument ratings in the late 70's, early 80's on "six packs" only, when discussing HSI drift, very few today recognize the significance of slapping cams up everywhere in and around the cockpit, particularly the panel cowling and the effect this has on the magnetic compass. Various cockpit configurations at production is the reason for the "Deviation Card" attached to the compass as each aircraft is unique in respect to magnetic field "anomalies". Further, most airports have an official "Compass Rose" painted on the pavement in a remote area of the ramp so you can taxi on to it and with the engine running, electronics all on, aka "in flight mode" confirm you mag compass accuracy. It can be a big deal when truly flying VFR only. A lot of the "RNAV" equipment back then had sensors remotely located to a specific area of the wing because of this issue.

Termination Shock is a must read It doesn't just explore the technical aspect of geo-engineering, but delves deeply in possible geo-political consequences. Who stands to win, and who stands to loose and why would an historic city-state want to go rogue again.

Your video's NEVER cease to entertain and intellectually stimulate. I found you because of your legendary video on the Fountain wars in Eve Online. You are AMAZING!!!

Excellent Q&A! I learned some unique, new facts today. Thank you Scott!