A few nights ago I watched the movie Apollo 13 and near the end when they separated the Service Module and Lovell was commenting that "one whole side of the spacecraft is missing" I wondered about the timing of the separation.
Why didn't they separate the SM sooner, before mid-course corrections had to be made, etc.? I'm assuming there was still *some* value to the SM such as some battery or other connections that weren't damaged so it was worth staying connected to that mass but I don't know for sure.
If I remember correctly they didn't shut all the power off until after the PC+2 burn which they assumed put them on the correct trajectory for a return to Earth and at that point it wouldn't matter if the unneeded mass was attached or not. But, when they realized they needed to do that mid course correction they were then using up more fuel and time than they would have if the SM was let go first.
Anyone know for sure why it was beneficial to bring the SM all the way to nearly reentry before cutting it lose?
Why didn't they separate the SM sooner, before mid-course corrections had to be made, etc.? I'm assuming there was still *some* value to the SM such as some battery or other connections that weren't damaged so it was worth staying connected to that mass but I don't know for sure.
If I remember correctly they didn't shut all the power off until after the PC+2 burn which they assumed put them on the correct trajectory for a return to Earth and at that point it wouldn't matter if the unneeded mass was attached or not. But, when they realized they needed to do that mid course correction they were then using up more fuel and time than they would have if the SM was let go first.
Anyone know for sure why it was beneficial to bring the SM all the way to nearly reentry before cutting it lose?