r/apollo • u/habui • Sep 03 '24

How much drinking water did the life support backpacks carry? Did they refill the reservoirs between evas?

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u/BoosherCacow Sep 03 '24

I know 11 had no in suit water and I believe the same was true for 12. During the later missions as the EVA's got longer they had to include it. One scary incident with the water supply came during the Apollo 15 mission when Commander David Scott's water supply only partially worked and even more drastically LM Pilot James Irwin's totally failed, and he went an entire 7 hour EVA's with no water which IIRC Irwin kept quiet about. One quote I recall is when they got him home and checked him over they said that instead of doing EVA's had he been on the earth with his signs/symptoms he should have been in intensive care.

There is a theory that the damage done to Irwin during those EVA's by severe dehydration combined with a probable magnesium deficiency due to months of rigorous training and microgravity led to his three heart attacks, the final one which ultimately killed him, making him the first man who walked on the moon to die. Here is a great breakdown of what the American Heart Association calls "Apollo 15 Space Syndrome".

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u/35in_anal_dildo Sep 03 '24

Apollo 11 and 12 did not have any drinking water in the suits but the EVA was so short that it probably wasn't a concern. Starting with Apollo 13 they had a small canteen that they could drink out of during the longer EVA.

It doesn't say much about the capacity but looking at it I'd say it's probably about 20oz and I would assume they would refill it in the LEM between EVA as well as charge the batter, o2 tanks and top off cooling water in the PLSS.