In this 1966 episode of the television series Science Reporter, MIT’s John Fitch reports on the obstacles that face the Apollo Command Module during its return to Earth and how teams at NASA and Accessory Products Corporation (APCO) are working to find solutions to those obstacles. The episode opens with animation of the Apollo Command Module returning to earth. The episode shows opened parachutes attached to a command module during a test (00:57). A test module is dropped from a tower into water and onto solid land to test reentry impact. John Fitch stand in front of NASA’s Langley Research Center (02:21) and talks to the audience about the challenges of returning from the moon. In a classroom, NASA’s William Brooks explains the heat that will face the command module when returning from the moon (03:44). He shows Fitch a plastic resin, nylon, and quartz fibers that are used to make a heat-resistant plastic material. Brooks shows a picture of the testing device used to create extreme heat (06:50). A researcher puts a piece of plastic into the device for testing (07:38). Brooks shows Fitch the control room where they monitor the various tests in the facility and explains the different areas to him (08:25). The test begins and footage shows the plastic piece undergoing intense heat (09:48). Afterward, Brooks and Fitch watch a video of the test (similar to what was just shown). Fitch holds the test specimen (11:18), which is slightly charred from the test. At APCO’s production and testing facility in Lowell, MA (12:00), the ablative heat shield for the command module is manufactured. Fitch looks at a honeycomb design that is used between the steel of the command module and the plastic heat shield. Footage shows men working on various components of the command module. Men look at x-rays that show any holes in the heat shield that need filling or fixing (17:02). Men roll a heat shield into a massive oven, so the heat shield can be cured (17:58). There are more shots of the control modules being produced. Animation is then used to show how the command module will reenter Earth’s atmosphere (20:11). Fitch is then shown outside standing near water at Langley’s Impacting Structure facility (22:00). Inside, Fitch—in a testing room that features a small pool of water—speaks with a member of the development team who explains how they test the impact by using test modules; they then share the data with other NASA teams and contractors (APCO). A test module is lifted up to simulate impact on water with realistic speed and force (23:37); the module is released and crashes into the water. The episode then shows footage of tests with different velocities and landing angles, both in water and on a hard surface. The episode concludes with Fitch wrapping up the topic and bidding the audience farewell.
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