Questions tagged [apollo-program]
NASA's Apollo program was a 17-mission program that focused on landing a human on the lunar surface. The program was the third human spaceflight by NASA, after Mercury and Gemini.
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How did “ACA Out of detent” work?
This is a related question about the words said during Apollo 11 as soon as the LM touched the ground.
My question is specific to
ACA out of detent
As soon as the LM touched down on the surface it ...
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What is the origin of the Lunar Module in the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL?
I recently had a chance to visit the US Space and Rocket Center. While I was there, I saw a lunar module. It is very clear that the ascent portion is a mock-up, but the decent portion looks real, ...
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Where exactly are the Apollo space suit sublimators venting steam into space? is there a photo of an astronaut in space that shows the opening?
This excellent answer to How have space suits dissipated the heat removed from astronauts? shows a diagram including the sublimator unit in the red square where the phase transition of water from ...
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Why were the apollo CM RCS thrusters all placed in only one half of the module?
All the apollo CM RCS thrusters for pitch, roll, and yaw control were placed only in the upper half of the capsule (as seen in the image below). Why is that? (I think I read somewhere that it was due ...
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Other than astronauts, did any equipment go to the moon more than once? [duplicate]
It's been well documented elsewhere that three astronauts made multiple trips to the moon (whether to just orbit it, or actually land), these being Lovell, Young, and Cernan. Other than these 3 ...
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What barge route did the Saturn S-II take from California to Florida?
The first stage (S-IC) of the Saturn V rocket was produced at the Michoud Facility in New Orleans. Too large to be transported by railroad or airplane, it was delivered to Kennedy Space Center by ...
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Was anything manufactured at the Michoud facility between Apollo and the Shuttle?
The Michoud Assembly Facility is a manufacturing complex in New Orleans owned by NASA.
During the Apollo program, the first stages of the Saturn I, IB, and V rockets were built there.
During the ...
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Back up plan to use LOX-RP1 for Apollo mission
Today it might seem to be an hypothetical question. I read that Surveyor mission confirmed "re-igniting" a LOX+LH2 engine in space is successful. What if the use of H2 was not successful ? - ...
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Lunar Terrain Model in Apollo Guidance Computer
In the book Apollo Guidance Computer by Frank O’ Brian, on page 279, he talks about the lunar terrain model in the Apollo Guidance Computer, which has the several segments of the surface with slope.
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Correcting Accelerometer Readings when Offset from Center of Mass: How?
A follow-up to an earlier question.
So I've accepted that I need to correct my accelerometer readings for the accelerometer offset from the center of mass.
The offset means that whenever the rocket ...
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Was emergency burial of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory planned?
Regarding the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, in Sunburst and Luminary Don Eyles wrote in Debriefing (p.162 of 2019 edition):
...all this in case they had, against expectation, brought home some
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Why was a completely new (an “inexperienced” crew, w.r.t. Moon mission) selected for Apollo 11? [duplicate]
Apollo 10 was practically a full dress rehearsal of moon landing, except the landing act. As such, its crew (astronauts) gained all the experience needed for a moon mission. They were best suited to &...
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How did the Apollo guidance computers deal with radiation?
I was wondering how the Apollo guidance computer handled the radiation encountered in space
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What was the volume of the Rocketdyne F-1 engine's main combustion chamber?
In the specifications of the F-1 available online, I can find its dimensions, weight, thrust, etc. but I couldn't find what was the volume of its main combustion chamber. Is this information available?...
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When was the general approach to the Apollo moon landings finalized?
When were the major aspects of the Apollo program decided? Multi-stage rocket, CM pulling the LM out of the rocket through a docking maneuver, LOR, and a parachute landing in the ocean.
I've seen ...
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Would the Apollo LM be able to land on Mercury?
If we set aside the question how the Apollo LM got into orbit around the celestial body in question, I wonder which celestial bodies other than the Moon the LM could successfully land on. Mercury for ...
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RCS jet select algorithms (e.g. in space shuttle)?
I'm looking for a clear description of RCS jet selection logic. The space shuttle, for instance, had tens of RCS thrusters, only three of which would be called to fire at a time given a 3D attitude ...
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Dragon ballistic/drag coefficients?
I'm looking for some estimates of Dragon's ballistic or drag coefficients in its reentry (heat shield forward) configuration. Estimates for other spacecraft would be useful also as they would give me ...
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Were all three Mobile Launch Platforms ever in use simultaneously?
With an optimistic view on the future, NASA built a Vertical Assembly Building with four bays and three Mobile Launch Platforms. They were later repurposed for the Space Shuttle and other launch ...
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Could Apollo have used the launch escape system as a booster?
Getting to space requires ruthlessly eliminating weight from launch vehicles. Older spacecraft like Apollo carried big Launch Escape towers. For an Apollo mission flying on a Saturn V, the LES meant ...
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Falcon 9 vs Apollo Landing: Key Differences?
So I'm struggling to model a Falcon 9 vertical landing.
And because Falcon 9 info is scarce, I'm looking for more public info sources---like the apollo missions.
The Apollos did basically vertical ...
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Is the telemetry from the Apollo Lunar rovers available?
Are there publicly-available datasets of the telemetry from the Apollo lunar rovers? Was rover telemetry even recorded during those missions?
If such datasets exist, I would love to retrieve the (...
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What exactly makes the “bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!” sound just before “Houston, we have hard dock.” in the Apollo 13 movie?
About seven seconds after "Capture!" and just before "Houston, we have hard dock" in the feature film Apollo 13 there are about seven loud bangs at about 3 Hz repetition. At this ...
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What was the space helmet “vomit port”?
Based upon centrifuge test results, MSC directed Hamilton Standard to modify the space suit helmet. The vomitus port and other obstructions to the line of sight in the downward direction were deleted....
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Lunar sample return cost per kg - Apollo vs Luna vs Chang'e
Lunar samples (rocks, soil etc.) were returned by US Apollo program, Russian Luna and Chinese Chang'e. How does the cost per kg of the samples compare among these missions? Who got it the cheapest per ...
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What does the Moon's gravity feel like? If you don't move, could you still tell you're on the Moon?
I am interested in descriptions and discussion from the Apollo astronauts.
Almost all animals and many plants are sensitive to the earth's gravitational field. This is important for large mammals and ...
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Saturn V's external blueprints
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but I don't know where to ask.
I want to get a high quality orthographic blueprints of NASA's Saturn V rocket with dimensions and everything (I need it ...
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Was the Apollo Programme the best option for long term space exploration?
Let us take the following as axiomatic:
The long-term future of humanity is dependent upon the successful colonisation of space,
The Apollo Programme was the greatest technological achievement in ...
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Separation of the stages of Saturn V by pyrotechnics, what about electrical and mechanical connections?
We know that the stages of Saturn V were mounted to each other with explosive bolts. Separation was done by ignition of these pyrotechnics.
But we also know the control computer of the Saturn V was ...
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Which instrument did astronauts use to measure their position?
I once read up about astronauts measuring their position on the moon, or perhaps it was on the way to the moon and I would like to know more.
What I remember reading was they used an instrument that ...
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What is this unlikely-looking contraption (“plutonium battery and scientific equipment”) they're making Jim Lovell cary around a parking lot?
The BBC's Did nuclear spy devices in the Himalayas trigger India floods contains the following image and caption.
Questions:
What scientific equipment and which plutonium battery is this?
Since this ...
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How much open source is the Apollo program today?
What percentage of NASA's Apollo program is considered to be open source as of today? I mean if I wanted to replicate a lunar mission from scratch exactly the same way they did it, regardless of the ...
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Lowest possible lunar orbit and has any spacecraft achieved it?
Because the Moon has no atmosphere a spacecraft can theoretically cruise at a very low orbit. What is the lowest possible lunar orbit and which spacecraft achieved it? Was it the Lunar Module of ...
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How was an emergency landing site at Diego Garcia used during the Apollo program?
On the current Starlink mission as the 2nd stage passed over the Indian Ocean I heard mention of contact with a ground station at Diego Garcia. Checking that article I found the subsection Space ...
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Did the Apollo Command module really “skip” within, or off of the atmosphere as a part of it's reentry program?
This answer to a question about the Shuttle reentry begins:
Skipping reentries aren't unheard of. The Apollo command module performed a single skip when returning from lunar missions.
but Wikipedia'...
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Why didn't NASA simulate the conditions leading to the 1202 alarm during Apollo 11?
If I understand it, the alarm during the first Lunar descent was due to the computer being overloaded by too much RADAR data. That sounds like something that they would have thought to simulate, but ...
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Apollo prelaunch timeline?
I'm looking for a resource that will tell me all the important pre-launch events of an Apollo mission from when the rocket rolls out of the VAB to liftoff. Specifically, I'm interested in the Apollo 8 ...
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Seeing stars from cislunar space?
Did any of the Apollo astronauts describe seeing the stars as they travelled between the Earth and the Moon?
If so, what was the magnitude of the dimmest stars they could see? Were they able to see ...
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What was the furthest distance from Earth that Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins reached in Apollo 11?
An estimate is fine. But if possible, I am looking for a reference that I can cite.
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Time of the final Apollo 11 television broadcast and splashdown
According to Wikipedia, the Apollo 11 splashdown occurred at July 24, 1969, 16:50:35 UTC.
Does anyone have a referenced source confirming the July 24, 16:50:35 UTC splashdown time?
Does anyone have a ...
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Is there anything left of the J-2 test stands at Santa Susana Field Laboratory and the F-1 test stands at Edwards AFB?
The Mississippi Test Facility (now Stennis Space Center) is used for a lot of rocket testing, including testing the F-1. However, many of the test stands are now gone.
Rocketdyne, however, also had ...
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Lot 345 of Christie's “Voyage To Another World” auction supposedly has the only photo of Armstrong on the Moon, but isn't this one also?
Christie's press release Christie's Voyage to Another World: The Victor Martrin-Malburet Photograph Collection includes the following:
Lot 345, The only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the Moon, July ...
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During an Apollo mission, were separations after dropping the S-II considered as staging events?
I would like to clarify what is a staging event. Maybe there is no definite definition. First I though it was easy as the Nasa definition is clear. Then I though of the stage-and-a-half Atlas SLV-3, ...
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Failure to jettison the Apollo launch escape system
In Apollo, was there a contingency plan if the LES (Launch Escape System) failed to jettison? The BPC (Boost Protective Cover) would have prevented the parachutes deploying so the stack would have had ...
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Improvements in Saturn V, LM and CSM after Apollo 10
Apollo 10 is considered to be full dress rehearsal for Apollo 11. Did the trial flight of Apollo 10 identify any improvements that were needed in the Saturn V, CSM and LM, to be done before Apollo 11 ...
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What was the normal function of the (coax?) crosshairs used during the Apollo 13 famous manual burn?
What crosshairs were used to maintain an attitude during the famous manual trajectory correction burn during Apollo 13's return to Earth? What was their normal function?
This is all I can hear in the ...
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Why did the CM & LM have to be separated at Apollo launch? [duplicate]
I've just read a bit about Apollo 13, and 1 question that kept popping up in my mind when they talked about the docking between the Command module & the Lunar one is that why did they have to be ...
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What is the official etymology of the term “service” module?
Are there any reputable sources about how the word "service" was chosen for the Apollo service module?
(This is a question about how the term was chosen, not about what the term means. ...
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How can we express velocity of the Apollo mission relative to a moon-centered reference frame instead of an inertial reference frame?
I am really interested in the Apollo mission and I was wondering how fast did the astronaut pass by relative to the moon. I wanted to compare it with the speed of the car. I have been able to ...
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How (the heck) was coherent synthetic aperture radar (SAR) implemented using photographic emulsion aboard Apollo 17?
This answer to Is there really microfilm on the Moon? includes a block quote which includes the following subquote:
The equipment was installed in the service module and consisted of a coherent ...
