[AR] Re: body mass and size of Apollo astronauts
- From: Ben Brockert <wikkit@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2013 02:10:47 -0600
On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 1:52 AM, Neil Jaschinski <neil.jaschinski@xxxxxx> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Since the astronauts are the pilots of rockets, I think my question is
> well placed in this email list.
They sure liked to think so, but the rocket was the pilot of the
rocket. They were the pilot of the reentry and orbital maneuvering
stage, and often unnecessarily so.
> At the beginning of the Apollo project, I think every pound count. So I
> was wondering if the astronaut has to lose weight to get the last
> missing pounds? I got this question when I saw documentation about
> Apollo 11. Michael Collins looks really thin on this footage.
> The second question I get was about the body size. Smaller astronauts
> mean smaller capsules. I know the size limitation for Russian cosmonauts.
> So, does anybody have a document with the body size and mass of the
> Apollo astronauts?
Doing quick numbers they seem to be around average height for the
time. Average of the three from Gemini that got into Apollo is 5'
8.6". That's three quarters of an inch under average now, but
Americans were shorter then.
That said, they seem short to me. In Titusville, north of KSC, there's
a Space View Park with handprints of the Gemini astronauts. Even
accounting for shrinkage that is common in castings, the hands are
really surprisingly small.
Ben
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