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#3
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senseiweasel (01/07/2016) [-] Good debunking of a popular myth, however I've never seen anything mentioned about pencil graphite being linked to the Apollo 1 fire.
From history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_01a_Summary.htm -
Cause of the Apollo 1 Fire
Although the Board was not able to determine conclusively the specific initiator of the Apollo 204 fire, it identified the conditions that led to the disaster. These conditions were:
A sealed cabin, pressurized with an oxygen atmosphere.
An extensive distribution of combustible materials in the cabin.
Vulnerable wiring carrying spacecraft power.
Vulnerable plumbing carrying a combustible and corrosive coolant.
Inadequate provisions for the crew to escape.
Inadequate provisions for rescue or medical assistance.
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1#Ignition_source -
Ignition source
...The board noted that a silver-plated copper wire running through an environmental control unit near the center couch had become stripped of its Teflon insulation and abraded by repeated opening and closing of a small access door. This weak point in the wiring also ran near a junction in an ethylene glycol/water cooling line that had been prone to leaks. The electrolysis of ethylene glycol solution with the silver anode was a notable hazard capable of causing a violent exothermic reaction, igniting the ethylene glycol mixture in the CM's corrosive test atmosphere of pure, high-pressure oxygen.
From history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_01a_Summary.htm -
Cause of the Apollo 1 Fire
Although the Board was not able to determine conclusively the specific initiator of the Apollo 204 fire, it identified the conditions that led to the disaster. These conditions were:
A sealed cabin, pressurized with an oxygen atmosphere.
An extensive distribution of combustible materials in the cabin.
Vulnerable wiring carrying spacecraft power.
Vulnerable plumbing carrying a combustible and corrosive coolant.
Inadequate provisions for the crew to escape.
Inadequate provisions for rescue or medical assistance.
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1#Ignition_source -
Ignition source
...The board noted that a silver-plated copper wire running through an environmental control unit near the center couch had become stripped of its Teflon insulation and abraded by repeated opening and closing of a small access door. This weak point in the wiring also ran near a junction in an ethylene glycol/water cooling line that had been prone to leaks. The electrolysis of ethylene glycol solution with the silver anode was a notable hazard capable of causing a violent exothermic reaction, igniting the ethylene glycol mixture in the CM's corrosive test atmosphere of pure, high-pressure oxygen.
#4 to #3
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bubblebobble [OP](01/07/2016) [-] Well the thing is it was never truly determined what caused the disaster, it could be that a snapped lead didn't cause it and someone at NASA just decided to throw out the pencils after the fire because they're a possible cause and unnecessary risk.
But it was definitely the Apollo 1 fire that caused them to switch to Fisher's pen and for him to create it in the first place.
But it was definitely the Apollo 1 fire that caused them to switch to Fisher's pen and for him to create it in the first place.
