# How dangerous were the Apollo missions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-were-the-apollo-missions/472888 "2008-11-15T18:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-were-the-apollo-missions/472888/41 "2008-11-19T15:41:26Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > - > - > - Don’t bother with nuclear explosives. You sound like my mother. . . . Just thought of another threat they simply had (and have) to live with - a micrometeor puncturing the vehicle. The folks at MCC argued rather bitterly over whether the two guys on the fourteen-day Gemini 7 mission should be allowed to remove their pressure suits at the same time. (Caution won.) ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-were-the-apollo-missions/472888/42 "2008-11-19T21:26:53Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > Man - that Armstrong guy on Gemini 8. > > Sounds like he had a pair of big brass ones. So big that they’d probably throw off any calculations made for space travel - whatever happened to him? Actually, I’m reading Walt Cunningham’s book right now (Cunningham was LMP on Apollo 7, the first mission after the fire), and he says that the talk around the NASA watercooler was that Armstrong screwed the pooch on Gemini VIII. According to Cunningham, there were procedures in place, but Armstrong just assumed it was the Agena that was causing the problem, which decision ultimately led to their having to use the Re-entry Control System to regain control of the craft and, therefore, the early abort of the mission. Sure, Armstrong had balls of steel and so didn’t panic when the module began to spin. But they all had balls of steel; that’s what they got hired for. –Cliffy [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-were-the-apollo-missions/472888.md?page=2)