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Posts about the PSM-6 stenciled for the launch crew, reminded me of one time we used it. It was a cold, rainy night, and we were sitting at the table playing cards and waiting for WWIII, when someone checked the Launch Control Panel and noticed a red light illuminated. Panic time! It said 'Booster Bottle Armed' on missile #5. Not good...not good at all!! Sounds like a job for the weapons guy!...but wait, that's a sterile area!...two people have to go. Being low dogs on the totem pole, the #2 Mechanic and I, grabbed the T.O., the 'Possum-6', and ran out to the J-box to check if the bottle was really armed. No nylon parkas allowed near a potentially armed bottle, it's 35F, and it's pouring rain. We were soaked to the skin before we even reached the bird, but it wasn't the cold that was making me shiver. It was the idea that it was possible we were going to dump a missile into a field a couple of miles away, and the realization that the two of us would never see it happen. I was puckered pretty tight...fully expecting the bottle to fire, and turn us into a couple of crispy critters, but fortunately everything checked out okay...the bottle wasn't armed...it was a stray signal, caused by water inside a cable. We had to drop a target to make repairs, but that sure beat what might have happened. So, yes, launch did use that meter now and then.
