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Author Topic: 062:31:15 MIT wants two beds in the bunkroom  (Read 2557 times)

Offline Naraht

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062:31:15 MIT wants two beds in the bunkroom
« on: July 19, 2020, 05:15:30 am »
https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=062:31:15&ch=21

Apparently at the time of Apollo 11, the bunkroom had room for about 24 people, and in this recording MIT are negotiating hard for a couple of beds for their people. Guidance officer Ken Russell explains: "There was a big thing... they had more people than they had room for, apparently.... Steve [Bales] and I are on call all the time and we have one bunk, one allocation."

Discussion continues – https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=062:35:06&ch=21 – "They have already filled 24 bunks.... It's not too hopeful."

But MIT have a couple of guys staying in Galveston and so the problem-solving continues...

"Well, one thing, Russell and Bales aren't going to sleep the entire day. You might could trade off with them."
"They don't sleep the whole mission, do they?"
"Well, I don't know."

One conclusion: "I think I'll bring in my bed roll and sleep behind the plot board." Discussion continues until 062:38:11: "Do you snore? I do!"

Interestingly, Steve Bales recalls that when he slept in the bunkroom the night before the landing, there weren't more than two other people there. (Source: From the Trench of Mission Control to the Craters of the Moon.) We know that one of them was Jay Greene, and that Jay and Steve also slept there the night after the landing, after watching the EVA in the flight controllers' lounge. (Source: Jay Greene's JSC oral history.)

We also know that Sy Liebergot had a bunk allocated to him, with a little sticker on it that said 'Rendezvous EECOM': https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=096:04:35&ch=17

Offline bfeist

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Re: 062:31:15 MIT wants two beds in the bunkroom
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2020, 07:13:07 pm »
This is wonderful detail. Thanks so much for posting.