# What was the final danger resolved for the Apollo mission? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588 "2022-03-23T23:51:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/41 "2022-03-27T19:30:19Z")
Which is a significant part of how he learned how to do it right. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/42 "2022-03-31T12:03:11Z")
Excellent point. He survived that incident, as he had survived that Gemini-Agena one. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/43 "2022-03-31T14:52:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > as he had survived that Gemini-Agena one. I think Dave Scott had said if he were in command they might not have made it. It was _that_ bad. The spin rate was terrible and in mutli-axes. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/44 "2022-03-31T15:39:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The spin rate was terrible and in mutli-axes. Time for one of my favorite nit-picks: Not possible. A solid body cannot spin around more than one axis. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/45 "2022-03-31T15:43:43Z")
But its axis can be expressed as a combination of axes in the coordinate system you’re using to measure it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/46 "2022-03-31T15:45:32Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > Time for one of my favorite nit-picks: Not possible. A solid body cannot spin around more than one axis. I was shorthanding the fact it was not rotating in the axes of the thrusters. So multiple thrusters used at the right time were needed to stop the spin. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/47 "2022-03-31T16:10:00Z")
That makes perfect sense in this context. Thank you for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/48 "2022-03-31T16:20:22Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > Time for one of my favorite nit-picks: Not possible. A solid body cannot spin around more than one axis. Time for one of my favourite counter-examples. The irregular rotation of a T-shaped object. [![](https://forgifs.com/gallery/d/248502-2/Zero-gravity-spinning-rotations.gif) ](https://forgifs.com/gallery/d/248502-2/Zero-gravity-spinning-rotations.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/49 "2022-03-31T18:26:23Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > Time for one of my favorite nit-picks: Not possible. A solid body cannot spin around more than one axis. Here’s a solid body spinning on more than one axis: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1x5UiwEEvpQ/hqdefault.jpg "Dzhanibekov effect demonstration in microgravity, NASA.(Tennis racket theorem)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x5UiwEEvpQ) Edit: ninja’d…by two hours. That’ll teach me to scroll to the bottom of the thread before replying… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/50 "2022-03-31T19:01:55Z")
tumbling moon: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Simulation\_of\_Nix\_Rotation.ogv](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Simulation_of_Nix_Rotation.ogv) ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/51 "2022-03-31T20:07:03Z")
This thread is great and I found myself nodding along with almost every post here. I guess I wanted to add that the dangers were never really resolved, not fully, even after the successful Apollo 11 first landing or the “more successful” Apollo 12 that fixed Apollo 11’s landing location issues. In Apollo 13, some hidden damage to a critical system, along with some unresolved design issues led to a near-fatal catastrophe. Then in Apollo 15, it was found out after the fact that the astronauts were exerting themselves to a high degree and somewhat dehydrated, which didn’t come out until later. The dangers just kept coming. Maybe it’s good they stopped when they did, after Apollo 17. Ah, one more: IIRC, during re-entry procedures for the “Apollo Soyuz Test Project” PR Mission in which NASA and Soviet spacecraft docked in orbit, the Apollo capsule’s thruster system was left on, so some toxic fumes were drawn into the cabin, nearly asphyxiating the astronauts within. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588/52 "2022-03-31T20:15:17Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Time for one of my favourite counter-examples. The irregular rotation of a T-shaped object. Sure, the axis is moving around. However, at any given moment, it’s rotating about just one axis. (And yet, it can be measured as the sum of component rotations. It’s easy to see how this is confusing.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-danger-resolved-for-the-apollo-mission/961588.md?page=2)