Moon Landings : Othor Games

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:26 pm

I've always been fascinated with early spaceflight. Playing Kerbal got me back into it. Time to re-read my 20+ books about early space flight.

Anyone have a favorite story about the early days? I quite like Pete Conrad's take on Apollo 12. Lovell on 13 is a hero.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 7:56 pm

Was expecting it to be a thread on conspiracy theories, was pleasantly surprised instead

If you really want to get a feel for moon landing, I'd suggest Orbiter: Space Flight Simulator instead of Kerbal

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:55 pm

I remember watching on TV an interview of a NASA official saying how stupid the idea of a moon hoax was. He said that with all the money involved and trouble in keeping literally thousands of people quiet, while at the same time throwing off Soviet survallaince, it was actually easier to just go ahead and actually send someone to the moon.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 3:07 pm

I'll have to look into that.

And no conspiracy theories here. I have plenty of first hand books about it all. Two are signed (to my delight upon receiving them via Amazon). Gene Kranz and Tom Stafford.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:45 pm

Oh I wasn't. I was just relating one of my strongest memories from those days, and it was that interview.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:49 pm

Reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6MOnehCOUw

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 5:45 pm

I've seen funny videos on Kerbal on YouTube thanks to ProJarad lol, but the game itself is pretty interesting for those who can't afford model rockets.

» Mon Aug 17, 2015 2:07 am

No worries. Didn't see your post before I made mine. That interview makes a good point.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:40 pm

The game itself is fun but not high on the realism scale. Orbiter is free and highly realistic.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm

Yeah, i always though the Cold War was the best evidence against that theory.

Anyway, that was 50 years ago! Isn't about time to do something remarkable again? :stare:

The Chinese did have plans for a moon mission, but seeing how their economy bombed too, that may no longer be on the agenda :meh:

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 4:01 pm

This story isn't about moon landings, but about something that happened after the first moon landing. Back in July 1969, my Mom moved us across the country to Las Vegas, Nevada. On the drive out there we watched the moon landing on our motel room TV. For weeks afterward it seemed like everybody started every conversation with the same sentence: "Did you see the moon landing?"

A few months later my Mom and I took a day trip up to Mount Charlseton, outside Las Vegas. As we were driving the winding road up the mountain, motorcycle cops waved my Mom to the side of the road. A moment later a long motorcade, with a huge limo in the middle, passed us with flags flying and cop lights flashing.

We had lunch at Charleston Lodge at the top of the mountain. During lunch a large group of people officiously marched through the large dining hall. They all stood in front of the picture windows and looked at the view. Allof these people were gathered around two men. Everyone in this group seemed really eager to impress these two guys, whoever they were. Then the group moved on.

My Mom asked the waiter what all that fuss had been about. The waiter told her that governmnet representatives from Nevada and Las Vegas were showing Buzz Aldrim and Neil Armstrong around the lodge. Needless to say, we were pretty impressed!

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:09 pm

The Moon landings did not happen. They were filmed on a set in beautiful downtown Burbank and directed by Woody Allen. The Moon surface was Woody's back yard (damn this drought) and the actors were G.I. Joes filmed with stop motion photography using a Brownie camera.

In reality though I had found this article rather fascinating. "Weaving the way to the Moon" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8148730.stm).

Rabbit

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:48 pm

I was five years old when Neil Armstrong made his "giant leap for mankind" - I vaguely remember watching it with my parents, but of course I had no idea what it actually meant. It's one of the few times I wish I was older than I am.

» Mon Aug 17, 2015 12:48 am

Having studied the mechanics of orbits and spacecraft flight, I'm fascinated with how NASA has been able to pull off such amazing feats with what they have access to at any given time. With 60's technology they were able to go to the moon and back several times and when things went wrong, improvise a fix. With 70's technology they sent a probe to visit not one, not two, not three, but four planets. And with 00's technology they sent a probe to the far reaches of the Solar System to meet up with a tiny orbiting body with an inclined orbit.

» Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:28 am

And that probe met up with it right on schedule. Even with computers, that's pretty darn impressive.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 10:49 pm

Its all math. All computers do is eliminate the errors and speed up the calculations . Granted, there are always some uncertainties.

The next mission in the planning might be sending a probe to the TNO: Sedna which at perihelion is ~76AU (Pluto is ~49AU [Aphelion]). According to calculations the mission would be launched May 6, 2033 or June 23, 2046, and would take nearly 25 years. Due to long orbit of Sedna this would be the only shot for 12,000 years (Aphelion of Sedna is 936AU).

» Mon Aug 17, 2015 3:51 am

That's most likely one that I will not see. I'd be about 107 years old by the time the probe reached its destination.

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:02 pm

Who knows maybe technology will allow double the average lifespan by then (you can always hope).

» Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:24 pm

I read this earlier and was trying to remember which space flights I saw in live school. I was in Kindergarten in 1968-69, so it would have to be after that. Maybe 3rd or 5th grade. I do recall seeing the first shuttle take off in school, though. Maybe it was on a news show or something, but I seem to recall a black and white picture on a TV for one of the rockets taking off