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Chart of planned oxygen use and the tank loads and pressure ratings
 
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[[Category:Apollo program]]
[[Category:Apollo oxygen]]
[[Category:Apollo evidence]]
[[Category:Apollo evidence]]
[[Category:Moon]]
[[Category:Moon]]
[[Category:Spaceflight]]
[[Category:Spaceflight]]

Latest revision as of 20:25, 13 October 2026

Apollo oxygen chart is the planned use and the tank loads for the command module, the lunar module, and the backpack. Pressures are in psi unless the source prints psia or psig. Where two documents disagree, both numbers are in the table.

The long accounts are on Apollo oxygen, Apollo command module oxygen, Apollo lunar module oxygen, and Apollo PLSS oxygen.

Planned use

Place Planned oxygen per person What the document is counting
Command module 1.8 pounds per person per day Crew use on a 14-day, three-man design mission. Three men for 14 days is 75.6 pounds. The environmental-control share of the tanks, including leakage and repressurization, was about 173 pounds.[1]
Lunar module Not given as a daily rate per person Two men share the descent oxygen for the landing and the stay. The ascent tanks are the climb. The consumables table prints vehicle loads, not a pounds-per-person day.[2]
Backpack One primary bottle per walker Earlier flights: 1.12 pounds in the bottle. Apollo 15, 16, and 17: 1.75 pounds in the bottle. The J-mission planning charge is 1.803 pounds loaded, of which 1.345 pounds is left for the walk after checkout, a cabin refill, gauge error, and a 30-minute reserve.[3][4][5]

Service module tanks

The command module drew its oxygen from cryogenic tanks in the service module. Flights through Apollo 13 carried two. Apollo 14 and the later landings carried three.[6] The May 1970 vessel survey still counts two.[7]

Tank Oxygen in each tank Pressure when full Vessel rating
Cryogenic oxygen tank, Inconel 718, 26.28 inches in diameter, wall 0.020 inch 330.1 pounds at the 100 percent gauge. Usable 323.45 pounds. Maximum fill 337.9 pounds. The handbook rounds two tanks to about 640 pounds.[6][8] 900 psia, plus or minus 35. The handbook says the heaters hold 900 psig. The 1970 survey lists a normal operating pressure of 900 psia.[6][1][7] Limit 1,020 psia. Proof 1,356 psia. Burst 1,530 psia.[7]

Command module tanks

These two supplies sat in the command module. They covered short peaks and entry, after the service module was gone.

Tank How many Oxygen Pressure when full Vessel rating
Surge tank, Inconel 718, 14.00 by 13.00 inches, wall 0.033 and 0.078 inch. News reference: 13 inches in diameter, 14 inches high, empty weight 8.86 pounds, volume 0.742 cubic foot. Left-hand equipment bay.[7][9] 1 3.7 pounds[1][9] 900 psig in the handbook. 900 psia in the flight report and in the vessel survey.[1][7] Limit 1,070 psia. Proof 1,356 psia. Burst 1,530 psia. Normal operating pressure in the survey: 900 psia.[7]
Repressurization bottles, Inconel 718, 12.62 by 7.00 inches, wall 0.028 and 0.045 inch. Below the hatch.[7][9] 3 1 pound in each bottle. The flight report calls the package 3 pounds.[9][1] 900 psi[9][1] Limit 1,070 psia. Proof 1,600 psia. Burst 1,800 psia. Normal operating pressure in the survey: 900 psia.[7]

Lunar module tanks

The lunar module had no cryogenic tanks. Early landing vehicles carried one descent tank. From LM-10, Apollo 15 and later, a second descent tank was added. Two ascent tanks flew on every landing vehicle.[10][11]

Tank How many Oxygen in each tank Pressure when full Vessel rating
Descent, one-tank vehicles. D6AC steel, 23.522 by 21.722 inches, wall 0.118 inch. Quadrant 3.[7] 1 48.0 pounds loaded. 44.4 pounds available for the mission. The experience report sizes the tank at about 48 pounds.[2][10] About 3,000 psi in the sizing sentence. The supply the regulator saw is given as 2,800 psi. The 1970 survey lists a normal operating pressure of 2,869 psia.[10][7] Limit 3,000 psia. Proof 3,990 psia. Burst 4,500 psia.[7]
Descent, LM-10 and later. One tank in quadrant 3 and one in quadrant 4.[11] 2 48.01 pounds at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Residual 0.84 pound at 50 psia.[11] 2,690 psia[11] Burst 4,500 psi in the LM-10 handbook. The 1970 survey, written for the single tank, is the limit, proof, and burst line above.[11][7]
Ascent. Inconel 718, 14.500 by 11.968 inches, wall 0.029 inch. Aft equipment bay.[7] 2 2.4 pounds loaded, 2.0 pounds available, in the consumables table. The experience report says about 2.4 pounds. The LM-10 handbook says 2.43 pounds at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with 0.14 pound left at 50 psia.[2][10][11] About 900 psi in the experience report. 840 psia in the LM-10 handbook. 850 psia normal operating pressure in the 1970 survey.[10][11][7] Limit 1,000 psia. Proof 1,330 psia. Burst 1,500 psia. The handbook burst is also 1,500 psia.[7][11]

Backpack tanks

One primary bottle per walker. The purge system is a second supply, two spheres on top of the pack, used if the backpack fails.

Tank Oxygen Pressure when full Vessel rating
Primary bottle, Apollo 11 through 14. 302 stainless steel. Specified empty weight 3.50 pounds.[3] 1.12 pounds at 78 degrees Fahrenheit[3] 850 psig on the capacity line. The 1972 requirements table charges these packs to 1,020 psia at 70 degrees Fahrenheit.[3][5] Proof 1,665 psig. The specification does not print a burst pressure.[3]
Primary bottle, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. 301 stainless steel, cryoformed. Specified empty weight 3.90 pounds.[4] 1.75 pounds at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Planning load 1.803 pounds.[4][5] 1,410 psi on the capacity line, and 1,410 psia in the requirements table.[4][5] External leakage is specified at 1,500 psia. The specification does not print a proof or a burst pressure.[4]
Purge sphere, one of the pair. Inconel 718. Specified empty weight 9.5 pounds.[3] 2.85 pounds at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The pair is described as 5.8 pounds.[3][5] 5,880 psia for the one bottle. 5,800 psi for the pair.[3][5] Operating pressure 0 to 6,750 psia. The specification does not print a separate burst pressure.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 F. H. Samonski Jr. and E. M. Tucker, Apollo Experience Report: Command and Service Module Environmental Control System, NASA TN D-6718 (1972).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 NASA TN D-7140, Apollo Experience Report: Consumables Budgeting, table VI.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Hamilton Standard, Apollo Portable Life Support and Oxygen Purge Systems. Primary oxygen bottle, item 271, and the purge bottle, item 511.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Hamilton Standard, Portable Life Support System, the J-mission backpack manual.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 J. C. Beggs and F. H. Goodwin, Apollo PLSS: Environmental Control of the Smallest Manned Space Vehicle, Hamilton Standard (1972).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 R. K. M. Seto, C. E. Barton, and J. E. Cunningham, Apollo Cryogenic Integrated Systems, TRW for NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (1971, changed 1972).
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 MSC Apollo 13 Investigation Team, Reaction Processes in High Pressure Fluid Systems, Panel 7 final report, May 1970, table A-I.
  8. ↑ NASA, Apollo Operations Handbook, Command and Service Module, Block II, the oxygen subsystem. The handbook line is quoted on Apollo command module oxygen.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Apollo command and service module news reference, environmental control, oxygen surge tank and repressurization unit.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 R. J. Gillen, J. C. Brady, and F. Collier, Apollo Experience Report: Lunar Module Environmental Control Subsystem, NASA TN D-6724 (1972).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 NASA, Apollo Operations Handbook, Lunar Module, LM 10 and Subsequent, Volume I, LMA790-3-LM, 1 April 1971, section 2.6.
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