Apollo 24 was a December 1974 crew rotation of the Jamestown Moon base. It was supposed to bring Edward Baldwin back to Earth. The CSM of Apollo 24 was called Osprey.
History[]
After Apollo 24 had launched successfully on December 24 from Cape Kennedy into Earth's orbit, due to a failure in the flight control computer (FCC), the S-IVB of Apollo 24 failed to perform TLI. Apollo 25 was repurposed to stage a replacement of the computer. Two days later, Apollo 25 launched and performed a rendezvous with 24. Apollo 25 commander Molly Cobb and Apollo 24 astronauts Harrison Liu and Deke Slayton went for an EVA to exchange the faulty part.[2]
However, at the end of the EVA, the S-IVB unexpectedly ignited, killing Harrison Liu and leaving Molly Cobb stranded in space. Although ordered to give up Molly by Mission Control, Tracy Stevens and Dennis Lambert in the Apollo 25 CSM managed to rendezvous and save her. Apollo 24 however was sent on a trajectory which would miss the Moon by 1600 km.
Edward Baldwin on board the LSAM managed to provide enough propellant to Ellen Wilson to avoid the Apollo 24 CSM drifting into deep space. Deke Slayton died of internal injuries, leaving Ellen as the only surviving crew member. Wilson took command of Jamestown and Edward Baldwin went back to Earth on board the CSM, landing safely.[3]
Crew[]
Scheduled[]
- Ellen Waverly (Commander)
- Harrison Liu †
- Deke Slayton †
Return[]
- Edward Baldwin (alone)
Back up[]
Gallery[]
See also[]
References
- ↑ See Apollo 22 dates calculations
- ↑ For All Mankind TV series, season 1, episode 9, "Bent Bird"
- ↑ For All Mankind TV series, season 1, episode 10, "A City Upon a Hill"
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