Apollo 11 Moon Landing 40th Anniversary Thread

[aozora]

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MODERATOR'S NOTE: ** THIS IS NOT AN APOLLO HOAX DEBATE THREAD!!! ***

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Posting any Apollo-hoax related items in this thread is showing disrespect to the 500,000 people who worked on the project 40 years ago. Thus, you will suffer my wrath if you ever smear this commemoration thread with any "Apollo Hoax" or "Apollo was Faked" posts and messages. Understood?



i'm not in space things, but this one is interesting. para istoryan astronauts.

Ten Things You Didn't Know About the Apollo 11 Moon Landing By Craig Nelson

Camera Shy: Neil Armstrong's reflection in Buzz Aldrin's visor is one of the few photos of Armstrong on the moon NASA

This month marks the 40th anniversary of humankind's first steps on the moon. Auspiciously timed is Craig Nelson's new book, Rocket Men--one of the most detailed accounts of the period leading up to the first manned moon mission. Here, we have ten little-known Apollo 11 facts unearthed by Nelson during his research. unearthed by Nelson during his research.

1. The Apollo’s Saturn rockets were packed with enough fuel to throw 100-pound shrapnel three miles, and NASA couldn’t rule out the possibility that they might explode on takeoff. NASA seated its VIP spectators three and a half miles from the launchpad.

2. The Apollo computers had less processing power than a cellphone.

3. Drinking water was a fuel-cell by-product, but Apollo 11’s hydrogen-gas filters didn’t work, making every drink bubbly. Urinating and defecating in zero gravity, meanwhile, had not been figured out; the latter was so troublesome that at least one astronaut spent his entire mission on an anti-diarrhea drug to avoid it.

4. When Apollo 11’s lunar lander, the Eagle, separated from the orbiter, the cabin wasn’t fully depressurized, resulting in a burst of gas equivalent to popping a champagne cork. It threw the module’s landing four miles off-target.

5. Pilot Neil Armstrong nearly ran out of fuel landing the Eagle, and many at mission control worried he might crash. Apollo engineer Milton Silveira, however, was relieved: His tests had shown that there was a small chance the exhaust could shoot back into the rocket as it landed and ignite the remaining propellant.

6. The "one small step for man" wasn’t actually that small. Armstrong set the ship down so gently that its shock absorbers didn’t compress. He had to hop 3.5 feet from the Eagle’s ladder to the surface.

7. When Buzz Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface, he had to make sure not to lock the Eagle's door because there was no outer handle.

8. The toughest moonwalk task? Planting the flag. NASA’s studies suggested that the lunar soil was soft, but Armstrong and Aldrin found the surface to be a thin wisp of dust over hard rock. They managed to drive the flagpole a few inches into the ground and film it for broadcast, and then took care not to accidentally knock it over.

9. The flag was made by Sears, but NASA refused to acknowledge this because they didn’t want "another Tang."

10. The inner bladder of the space suits—the airtight liner that keeps the astronaut’s body under Earth-like pressure—and the ship’s computer’s ROM chips were handmade by teams of “little old ladies.”

Craig Nelson uncovered these facts in various NASA archives while researching his new book, Rocket Men (Viking; $2.

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@mods, if deem inappropriate, please do the necessary. thanks!

[rodsky]

More...

Most of the astronaut images (like the one above) on the Apollo 11 mission were of Buzz. Buzz claims he simply forgot to take good photos of Neil (he had some, but most of them were underexposed and/or blurry) because of the tight, 2.5 hour EVA limit. Neil on the other hand, took LOTS of photos of Buzz. So, most of the images of "First man on the moon" is actually a mistake, because chances are, those photos are of Buzz.

So yes, aside from his reflection off Buzz's visor, we have NO good images of Neil Armstrong on the moon. Very sad.

I'll add more factoids later

-RODION

[personalmgt]

(mod's note: Another factoid)

They left mirrors there right? Back in high-school and elementary Ive never heard of it, even the textbooks didn't tell. I only knew about the mirror when I watched Mythbusters.

[rodsky]

UPDATE: The bad photos of Neil.

First photo of Neil on the surface by Buzz Aldrin (AS11-40-5886). Neil has his back towards the camera. This is the ONLY good image of Neil Armstrong on the moon.


2nd photo of Neil on the surface by Buzz Aldrin (AS11-40-5894), the Hasselblad was severly underexposed--you can barely see Neil.


3rd photo of Neil by Buzz (AS11-40-5895)...I'm beginning to think Buzz is simply a BAD photographer (he managed only to take Neil's legs).


-RODION

[Tarmac]

5. Pilot Neil Armstrong nearly ran out of fuel landing the Eagle, and many at mission control worried he might crash. Apollo engineer Milton Silveira, however, was relieved: His tests had shown that there was a small chance the exhaust could shoot back into the rocket as it landed and ignite the remaining propellant.

8. The toughest moonwalk task? Planting the flag. NASA’s studies suggested that the lunar soil was soft, but Armstrong and Aldrin found the surface to be a thin wisp of dust over hard rock. They managed to drive the flagpole a few inches into the ground and film it for broadcast, and then took care not to accidentally knock it over.

I still find it gratifying that despite all the automation that went into the Apollo missions the commanders could still (and did) land their LMs under manual control (which of course saved the mission in some cases). Eagle had about 10 seconds' worth of fuel left when it finally touched down.

Buzz Aldrin would say in later interviews that they took care to give the flag a wide berth throughout their EVA lest they knock it over on live TV. In any case, the precariously-planted flag was blown over when the LM ascent stage fired its motor for the trip home.

[Deathnote]

gi tuyo guro na ni Buzz para siya ra starring...hehehe

[rodsky]

gi tuyo guro na ni Buzz para siya ra starring...hehehe

That's actually a well-known "touchy" subject of discussion in the book "First Man", Neil's authorized biography. It was also discussed in Buzz's own biography (Men from Earth). I seriously think Buzz wouldn't do anything like that on purpose. But then, I'm not Buzz, so it's open for speculation.

-RODION

[rodsky]

Buzz Aldrin would say in later interviews that they took care to give the flag a wide berth throughout their EVA lest they knock it over on live TV. In any case, the precariously-planted flag was blown over when the LM ascent stage fired its motor for the trip home.

It wasn't actually the distance from the LM that mattered--it was an issue of HOW the flag was constructed during Apollo 11. The first flag staff was ONE-PIECE (with a telescoping tube assembly). Which meant it was more difficult to drive it into the ground, and so Neil and Buzz actually had to struggle to get it into the regolith (I think they only managed less than 4 inches into it).

On the later missions, the flag staff was made up of TWO PIECES, so that the first part was driven into the regolith using a geology hammer, and then, the top part was screwed on (like the two pieces of a microphone stand). Thus, even if the flag was close to the ascent stage lift-off blast, a good 10 inches of deep driving into the regolith can perhaps make sure that the flag won't topple over.

-RODION

[mryozo]

And to think they weren't using a "Canon" or "Nikon" camera then, they were using a Hassie... And the russians were using a Lomo. No wonder the russians have better photographs that the americans.

But then again, i think Buzz a bad shot with the Hasselblad.

[rodsky]

And to think they weren't using a "Canon" or "Nikon" camera then, they were using a Hassie... And the russians were using a Lomo. No wonder the russians have better photographs that the americans.

But then again, i think Buzz a bad shot with the Hassleblad.

Or maybe only bad when Neil is in the frame hahaha. Because his other photos are quite nice, like the soil mechanics photos (footprints). They were well-focused. Murag nagpalpak ra siya when pointing the camera at Neil. LOL

Lisod man dyud i-handle ang Hassleblad mounted on the bracket on the RCU...

Walay viewfinder...blind-shooting dyud. It's a mixture of luck and skill tingali. I mean, just look at those glove tips...

baga-kaayo, lisod mag adjust sa expo/ss/focus.

-RODION