New Orleans (LPH 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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4 K , ,w,,.-.,.v,., - ' 4. W f Q 5 ff? 3, K 4 , Y e ri The ship arrived in Hawaii on january 13th. The next five rainy days were spent in meetings, conferences and the final loading of equipment. The Mobile Quarantine Facility is driven out on the pier to the New Orlean's after 6 Svator where it will be raised to the hangar bay area.

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PEARL HAR The funny-looking silver trailer which was seen on television the day of Apollo l4's splashdown, was what :NASA calls the Mobile Quarantine Facility, abbreviated simply IVIQF. Its name explains its use. Basically, the overall purpose of the MQF was to provide an isolated, yet comfortable, atmosphere for the astronauts to live in while on board New Orleans. Living accommodations inside the Mobile Quarantine Facility were arranged much like a plush camping trailer. It was equipped with bunk beds, chairs, table, cupboards, a small kitchen and restroom. There was also an exer- cise bike inside, which was used for medical experiments, and other devices used to ex- amine the astronauts' health. When the astronauts were safely inside the MQF, the command module was maneuvered up to the semi-transparent tunnel attached to the side of the facility. This enabled an air- tight seal to be formed between the command module and the MQF, in order that the lVloon rocks and other Moon contaminated objects could be transferred without fear of exposure and possible contamination of the Earth's environment. THE BUBBLE Thanks to Western Union International, 500 million people around the world were able to view, live and in color, tae Apollo l4 splashdown and astronaut recovery. A Developed by General, Electric, the entire unit, transmitterland all, weighs a mere 41 thousand pounds and is fully portable. Used to cover the last seven Apollo recoveries, the unit is capable of live television transmission from 94 per cent of the Earth's surface. The capabilities of the unit are as unbeliev- able as its technical aspects. On splashdown day, the television signal from the New Orleans was transmitted 22,300 miles to lntelsat lll-F4 hovering in orbit above the Pacific Ocean. From the satellite, the signal was- transmitted to lamesburg, California, from there to NASA, in Houston, and then to New York where the signal was distributed across the nation. There was only a quarter- second delay from the time the 'signal left New Orleans until it appeared on TV screens across the nation. The signal was also fed from New York to Etam, West Virginia where the signal was shot-up to two Atlantic satel- lites. Correspondingly, the United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America, parts of Africa and the Near East were able to view the Apollo recovery. In order for the Pacific area llapan, Australia, Hawaii and othersl to view the recovery, the signal was also fed from New York, back to California and again up to the Pacific satellite. -eeeee new Bok, HAWAII Transmitter and other units of Western Union lnternational's Bubble and NASA's satellite tracking equipment after loading at Pearl Harbor. . alaaa a

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,JF The mock-up of the command module is rolled out onto the flight deck.. Prior to the actual splashdown, New Orleans con- ducted many pre-recovery SlMEXes or practices on the way to the recovery site after leaving the Pearl Harbor Naval Base on lanuar 18th y . The exercises were geared with the actual Apollo pick- up in mind. This was a period when the pilots and crewmen from NAS Imperial Beach based Helicopter S d - ' qua ron Six and New Orleans crew had dress re- hearsals in order to be completely ready for the big day February 9th, A boilerplate mock-up of a command module was utilized. Additionally, a point of splashdown was simulated and all forces necessary for the actual pick-up .were employed as if it were the real thing. Even the CBS-TV and radio pool crews rehearsed their opera- tions through the SlMEXes and developed what has been called the most impressive coverage ever on a recovery . The new techniques included using a television camera in a helicopter as well as using a gyro-mount on shipboard cameras to eliminate some of the roll previously noted on other missions. Playing the part of the astronauts in each of the practices were members of UDT-ll, the team of swim- mers that attached the flotation collar around the capsule on splashdown and opened the hatch for the astronauts to exit the capsule These men were b i . . rought on board ship, quarantined and ive VIP ' g n receptions many times during the course of the SlMEXes. and hoisted by the special aircraft crane -' ' . -X .N 'PT 'e -as e Y A K - X-fs. -W 'e'--K-9 A A ..4,.. Y A' ' ' viii'-n A I A f A