LRO re-images Tranquility base

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been in its final orbit for almost two months now and has passed over the Apollo 11 landing site again, but this time only 50km above. The full power of the camera is now revealed.


The Sun is almost directly overhead, so the surface seems 'flat' with no shadows, but look at the big bright blob. That's the landing stage of the LEM, the four dots around it are the landing pads. To the South are the scientific instruments they left behind and snaking around are the tracks left by Armstrong and Aldrin.

The whole image is little more than 100m across, if there were astronauts there now they would probably be visible. Amazing.

See Bad Astronomy for more. Grow into these trousers... >>

The technology that took us to the Moon

The other week delicate flower posted an old photo of a RAND corp. mock-up of a futuristic home computer and asked for our predictions of what things might be like 50 years from now. This is an interesting question but so difficult to speculate on. Who would have predicted Blu-tack 50 years ago? Yet it was developed in 1971.

Just a couple of years before that, Apollo 11 had landed on the moon and the electronics needed to process those communications looks remarkably similar to df's photo, but a bit more stylish and lacking a steering wheel.


It was kit like that which gave us the TV pictures of the first moonwalk, read the full story at Universe Today.

I am reminded of my own first involvements with computers, which must have been ~30 years ago. But therein lies a different tale. Hmm, I might post about that. It will take a series though :) Grow into these trousers... >>

Going home

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The accumulation of small steps...

Is what drives humanity forwards. May we never step backwards.

Apollo 11 One Small Step
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You got a bunch o'guys about to turn blue.

We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.

Apollo 11 - Touchdown and Radio Transcript


I can never hope to express my original feelings about this event. I was young and impressionable true, but I was well aware of earlier space missions. Nothing though, nothing before, ever had this intensity. This compulsion. Watching the TV transfixed for hours. I didn't really understand but I somehow knew I was seeing an Earth changing moment.

I had similar feelings when the Berlin wall fell, and when Nelson Mandela walked from Victor Verster Prison. You can feel the importance. But Apollo 11 was far more than that. Much more than the petty squabbles of politics or religion.

However, for humankind to be able to accomplish such amazing achievements does take politics. In some ways it involves religion, an age-old inspiration to the human mind, but then science pisses on them both.

Apollo 11 - baby's first step into the unknown. Grow into these trousers... >>

LRO - oh deep joy!

"All time sometime deep joy of a full Moon scintillating dangly in the heavenly bode" - Happiness Stan, The Small Faces

In the week where everyone is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the 1^st Moon landing (if you're not, then you should be. It's one of humanities greatest achievements), the LRO snaps this image:

Not much to see you may think; but what's that little, right-pointing shadow bang in the centre? I'll blow it up.

All is revealed below the belt...

It's the bottom half of the Eagle, the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) on Apollo 11.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

WOW!
LRO is still in the commissioning phase of its mission. It's not down to its working orbit yet, so the final resolution should be at least twice as good as this.


Remember, the last time anyone saw this object it was from a lot closer.

Buzz Aldrin looks back at his taxi home.
The LRO has captured images of all the other Apollo sites except 12 (coming soon). On the image from Apollo 14 you can actually see the path made by the astronauts as they trekked back and forth to some experimental equipment! Amazing.
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LRO images, credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University Grow into these trousers... >>

Re-live the 1st Moon landing

Take a small step over to We Choose The Moon for a real time animation of the Apollo 11 mission, overlaid with the radio communications as they would have happened. Or listen to hours of static because, just now (then) they are (would have been) simply coasting along between the Moon and the Earth. It will get more exciting!

In the meantime there's a ton of photos and videos to see.

Note: It's a great site but it's very, very Flash intensive and slow to load. If you follow the link and think your 'puter has hung, be patient. Once it has loaded, it's fine. Grow into these trousers... >>

40 years ago today

I was 13.


Visit The Big Picture for lots more images from the Apollo 11 mission.

As You Remember It: The Lift-Off of APOLLO 11
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Not the most noteworthy anniversary, the 39th...

Sort of ruby-1, worth celebrating though.


HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969 A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND
(Photo credit NASA)


July 16, 1969
13:32:00 UT (09:32 a.m. EDT) Kennedy Space Center


July 20, 1969
20:17:40 UT (4:17:40 p.m. EDT)


July 21, 1969
02:56:15 UT (10:56:15 p.m. EDT July 20, 1969)


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