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20 July 2019 (Armstrong Day, 50 A.T.)
Happy Armstrong Day!

Fifty years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the Moon. In the Tranquility Calendar, this is the last day of the year 50 AT.

When the Apollo astronauts stepped on the Moon, only the planets in our Solar System had ever been observed. Today, astronomers have detected thousands of new worlds. The Milky Way has hundreds of billions of worlds waiting to be walked upon; the future will hold many more 'small steps for Man' if we can find the determination to make them.
 
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We've been watching the broadcast online....this all happened before I was born, but for my spouse and one of my cousins this was the defining moment of their childhoods. Since they were both Houstonians and near to NASA itself, it must have seemed especially personal to them. My cousin was inspired to eventually became a NASA engineer.
 
But did you land it for chrisakes? !!!!!!

.. all you had to do was:

  1. Press Enable IMU button.
  2. Wait 85-90 seconds until NO ATT light turns off.
  3. Enter V37E01E to initiate major mode 01 (Prelaunch or Service Initialization). PROG should read 01, if not try again in few seconds.
  4. Wait until IMU is calibrated (pitch 90°).
  5. Major mode 02 (Prelaunch or Service Gyrocompassing) will automatically start in few seconds (PROG shows 02).
  6. Press Launch button.
  7. MET (Mission Elapsed Time) clock starts running.
  8. Major mode 11 (Earth Orbit Insertion Monitor) will start after the detection of the launch event.

    1. DSKY updates every two seconds with the latest state-vector data:
    2. R1 = velocity (XXXXX ft/s).
  • R2 = the altitude rate (XXXXX ft/s).
  • R3 = the altitude above the pad (XXXX.X nmi).

  1. The powered flight lasts 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Both roll and pitch programs are executed.

    1. You may monitor the orbit parameters at any time after the launch by entering V82E:
    2. R1 = the apocenter altitude (XXXX.X nmi).
  • R2 = the pericenter altitude (XXXX.X nmi).
  • R3 = the time to free fall (XX XX min:sec).

  1. After a successful launch, both the apocenter and pericenter altitudes should be >90 nmi.
  2. Press PRO to return to major mode 11 display.

    1. Enter V06N32E to display time from perigee:
    2. R1 = 00XXX. hours
    • R2 = 000XX. minutes
    • R3 = 0XX.XX seconds
  • It's not rocket science ..
I didn't even try. Numbers... brrr!
 
ISS.JPG

255 miles away so sorry for the quality :) little blob to the left is Soyuz and big one to the right is ISS
 
Ernie from Sesame Street muses on space travel:

He does get distracted halfway through, but you get to see his feet.
 
Not directly related to Apollo 11 but popped into the back garden to shoot the ISS. I knew there was a Soyuz due to dock but wasn't sure when - only managed to photograph it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pic to follow.

There's a great app for Android (not sure about Apple) called Space Launch Now that tells you of all imminent launches and dockings both present and historic from all around the world. I only downloaded it to my phone a couple of weeks ago and have found it hugely interesting and informative.
 
2
There's a great app for Android (not sure about Apple) called Space Launch Now that tells you of all imminent launches and dockings both present and historic from all around the world. I only downloaded it to my phone a couple of weeks ago and have found it hugely interesting and informative.
I’ve got the ISS spotter app which is how I knew I would see the station and I’d vaguely heard Soyuz was going up but didn’t pay too much attention, I’ll check out the app you recommend, thanks
 
It is ava
There's a great app for Android (not sure about Apple) called Space Launch Now that tells you of all imminent launches and dockings both present and historic from all around the world. I only downloaded it to my phone a couple of weeks ago and have found it hugely interesting and informative.
it is available for IOS as well
 
View attachment 19052
255 miles away so sorry for the quality :) little blob to the left is Soyuz and big one to the right is ISS
Nice shot, Gordo. I'm an ISS watcher. At our house we call it The Angel'. Mesmerises the kids. So pretty.

Did you perceive satellite 2 approaching our host? Probably not enough time. She's a swift bird.

I have developed a video tribute to the American moon shot. Some may have seen it. I hope you enjoy it. I do.

Full screen, big sound, if you please.

 
But did you land it for chrisakes? !!!!!!

.. all you had to do was:

  1. Press Enable IMU button.
  2. Wait 85-90 seconds until NO ATT light turns off.
  3. Enter V37E01E to initiate major mode 01 (Prelaunch or Service Initialization). PROG should read 01, if not try again in few seconds.
  4. Wait until IMU is calibrated (pitch 90°).
  5. Major mode 02 (Prelaunch or Service Gyrocompassing) will automatically start in few seconds (PROG shows 02).
  6. Press Launch button.
  7. MET (Mission Elapsed Time) clock starts running.
  8. Major mode 11 (Earth Orbit Insertion Monitor) will start after the detection of the launch event.

    1. DSKY updates every two seconds with the latest state-vector data:
    2. R1 = velocity (XXXXX ft/s).
  • R2 = the altitude rate (XXXXX ft/s).
  • R3 = the altitude above the pad (XXXX.X nmi).

  1. The powered flight lasts 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Both roll and pitch programs are executed.

    1. You may monitor the orbit parameters at any time after the launch by entering V82E:
    2. R1 = the apocenter altitude (XXXX.X nmi).
  • R2 = the pericenter altitude (XXXX.X nmi).
  • R3 = the time to free fall (XX XX min:sec).

  1. After a successful launch, both the apocenter and pericenter altitudes should be >90 nmi.
  2. Press PRO to return to major mode 11 display.

    1. Enter V06N32E to display time from perigee:
    2. R1 = 00XXX. hours
    • R2 = 000XX. minutes
    • R3 = 0XX.XX seconds
  • It's not rocket science ..
god I miss DOS and basic.
 
An old acquaintance of mine, now a science editor, was interviewed on Saturday about the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing:

Danylo Hawaleshka and I were undergraduates at the same university and we graduated the same year. At that time he was known as 'Dan.' We were both members of one of the university's clubs and were in a few English literature courses together. I haven't been in touch with him since graduation but I knew that he had become a journalist. I'm not surprised that he is now a science editor because his degree was in biology. He has an inquiring mind and is no doubt well suited for science journalism.
 
This content creator has made a bunch of feature-length films on each Apollo mission. Great work.

Apollo 15
Did science ever explain the rilles? These geoforms do not occur on earth.
I am hoping this doco provides an answer.
Hadley Rille is the landing site of A15.

Dave Scott
Al Warden
Jim Irwin

June 1971
 
Wow! Charlie Duke himself makes several comments of praise for this doco on A16. What an honour for the lad that created the channel, although he'd have to be hypervigilant keeping trolls out in the carpark. OTOH, I expect if you had walked on another planet you'd not be in the least phased by anything so insignificanf as a cockroach with a keypad.

 
Well I guess we got freeze dried food from the moon program.

Freeze dried ice cream is great. Peculiar stuff as it's light as a feather and crumbly in texture but it almost seems creamier than ice cream in its natural state.
 
:(

Quell the over-enthusiasm, lads. It's only a trillion dollar manned mission to the moon.
 
The reason why the space program has succeeded in one word, Velcro.

Thought to be invented by NASA, it was invented in 1940 by a Swiss inventor.

The space program uses Velcro on everything for weightlessness problems.
 
The reason why the space program has succeeded in one word, Velcro.

Thought to be invented by NASA, it was invented in 1940 by a Swiss inventor.

The space program uses Velcro on everything for weightlessness problems.
Well, after maths, physics, engineering, communications, training, fucking huge rockets and ultimately parachutes, I guess velcro must have stuck stuff to stuff somewhere down the line.
 
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