Questions tagged [lunar-landing]
Questions on the subject of missions to the Lunar surface - past, present, and future
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Chandrayaan landing ellipse size and rationale
From what I hear about the Chandrayaan-2 failure analysis, the spacecraft overshot its landing ellipse and, while struggling to backtrack, crashed. I have been wondering why they had specified a ...
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Was TTCA used during the Apollo 11 landing phase?
Neil selected P66, so he used the ROD switch to adjust the altitude rate (he could not use the TTCA throttle). My question is whether he used the X,Y axis translation feature of TTCA or not.
The ...
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Going over the Apollo fuel numbers and I have many questions
I was reading through Apollo by the numbers and I noticed the LM descent to the moons surface consumed 17,414kg of fuel out of a total of 18,184kg leaving only 770kg of fuel.
But then in the very next ...
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Did Apollo astronauts spend any time on the lunar surface during lunar night?
Are there any images from the surface of the moon during lunar night? Preferably taken by Apollo astronauts, but otherwise by rovers etc showing "earthshine" on the lunar surface?
I found ...
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Moon landing with ion thrusters
In Kerbal space program I built a mini cubesat (similar to NASA’s lunar flashlight probe) and managed to land on the moon only using ion thrusters. However, it was risky because it took a few tries. ...
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HAKUTO-R Mission length after landing?
I was unable to find sources about what will happen to the current HAKUTO-R lunar lander after it lands in ± 4.5 months.
There are two possibilities coming to mind:
The lander won't survive the lunar ...
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Whats are the objectives of Artemis I?
Is there any major reason or research that can only can be done by humans or is it just so we can say "we did it again"?
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What is this beige, pill shaped object on the back of the Apollo Lunar Module?
Is it an antenna, or something else?
Image from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Apollo_11_Lunar_Lander_-_5927_NASA.jpg
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Could dust kicked up from the Apollo landings reach Earth intact?
According to various sources (1,2, and 3) lunar landings kick up a lot of dust at very high speeds. Is it possible that some dust was able to get fast enough to escape the moon, fall towards Earth, ...
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Moon Suit to be used for the Artemis III mission?
The Moon landing mission Artemis III is scheduled for launch in 2025. It will be the first Lunar crewed mission after Apollo.
What is the development state of the moon suit to be used for moonwalks ...
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Proposed Christmas Island launch site, 1952 von Braun Luna Study
In a 1952 study, Wernher von Braun devised a "manned lunar lander" as illustrated below.
The study looked at three lunar landers taking a crew of 50 to Sinus Roris (Bay of Dew) in 1977. ...
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How did the lunar module avoid problems with flying regolith when taking off?
In November 2020, a SpaceX rocket suffered damage due to a problem with the launchpad, and future missions to the Moon and Mars could suffer similar problems since there won't be a launchpad at all.
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How Did One Stand in The LEM Before Descent? [duplicate]
This is really simple, but i've never seen it discussed. One piloted the Apollo LEM standing up, without many restraints. But before the LEM ignited the descent engine, it was practically in free fall....
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Would the Lunniy Korabl be able to dock with the Oryol spacecraft?
As a successor to the Soyuz program, Russia is currently planning the Oryol/Federatsiya, at first for LEO flights and eventually for lunar ones. Russia wants to build a lunar space station (similar to ...
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How big are the risks of Starship flipping during or after landing on the Moon?
Now that NASA has announced the selection of SpaceX to manufacture the Moon landing vehicle(s) for the Artemis program, I can't but notice how tall Starship is when compared to other concepts. Chances ...
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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 ...
user39728
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What are SpaceX plans for Starship with respect to Moon landing and then takeoff?
Starship uses Raptor engines which in turn uses liquid methane as fuel. The idea for using methane as fuel being - methane can be produced on Mars from CO2 and H2O. And using the onsite produced ...
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How likely is it for Chang'e 5 to wake up after lunar night?
I have been wondering how likely it would be for the Chang'e 5 Probe to wake up. I mean the surveyors did this a few times, but were all relatively simpler in design.
Also what gets damaged in the ...
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What is the danger of creating micrometeorite clouds orbiting the Moon by constantly landing spacecrafts on its surface?
It is a well-known fact that when meteorite hits surface of the Moon, a part of debris can end up on Earth because the escape velocity for Moon is low - 2.38km/s. A similar effect can be achieved by ...
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Lunar landing in cotton candy?
When spacecraft land on Earth, they use the atmosphere to slow down.
On the Moon there's no atmosphere, so spacecraft must instead use rockets to slow down from orbital velocity.
Would it be possible ...
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Is there really microfilm on the Moon?
A comment below this answer to Disc mounted on lunar rover? suggests that
...a number of documented microfilms that were on the Apollo missions.
meaning I presume that bits of microfilm were ...
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What is the inclination limit for Artemis landings?
Inspired by Did any of the Apollo lunar modules land significantly off level? I'd like to know if there is an inclination limit for the Artemis Human Landing System?
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What was the nature of the communication problems during Apollo 11's Eagle's descent? How were other antennas selected?
In the video of Los Angeles station KTLA's Frank Buckley interviewing astronaut & Apollo 11 CAPCOM Charlie Duke a communication problem and antenna selection is described:
BUCKLEY: Many of us who ...
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Procedure to deal with the death of Apollo astronaut during a lunar mission
During Apollo lunar missions, had the command module pilot have died while the other two astronauts were on the Moon, or had only one of the two lunar walkers died, did NASA have a procedure for such ...
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Why did Apollo 11 land at the sea of tranquility?
As we all know in 1969 Apollo 11 landing made history but, why did it land specifically at the sea of tranquility also known as Mare Tranquilitatis. Probably they would have chosen this because of ...
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Did NASA develop any crewed moon landing programs between Apollo and Constellation?
I just assumed that NASA has always been developing some plan to get humans back on the moon since Apollo was cancelled. But while attempting to verify this, I found that this doesn't seem to be the ...
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apollo 11 moon landing longitude latitude from PDI to Touchdown
I'm reconstructing the entire apollo 11 mission trajectory.
I'm now at the moon landing. Does someone know specific documents specifying longitudes and latitude at the different interfaces starting ...
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What equipment was taken from Earth to the surface of the Moon and back?
During the Apollo missions, basically everything was left behind as soon as it was no longer needed. Of the approximately 45-48 tons that the CSM+LM weighed at launch, only 10% made it back to Earth. ...
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What spacesuits did the Apollo astronauts wear on Earth in their training for the Moon?
Even on the Moon the Apollo spacesuits were so heavy and bulky that the Apollo astronauts couldn't move quite well in them, except in the Apollo 15-17 missions where they were improved. However on ...
user35272
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Could the lunar module have moved to a different spot?
Suppose Neil Armstrong had landed with plenty of spare fuel, only to decide it really wasn't a good spot after all. Could he have lifted back off and landed again, perhaps a couple of hundred feet ...
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Apollo 11 Moon orbital elements [duplicate]
I'm simulating several pieces of the Apollo 11 mission.
I'm now at the point of performing lunar landing sequence, and I'm looking for data. I found this report, but it only has partial data, while ...
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Could a nuclear thermal rocket take off from the surface of the Moon?
Could a nuclear thermal rocket take off from the surface of the Moon?
The application is a shuttle from LEO to the Lunar surface.
Fairly recent NASA plans include an NTR LEO to LLO shuttle, but use ...
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Does the Artemis III mission have a backup plan if the astronauts are unable to ascend from the Moon?
For the unlikely scenario where the Artemis III astronauts having landed on the Moon press the ascent button and nothing happens, will NASA have a backup or rescue contingency plan?
If so, what ...
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Did the Apollo LM's cockpit altitude displays account for the pointing angle of the radar altimeter?
The Apollo LM had a radar altimeter which was particularly critical in the final stages of landing. It could be set to two different pitch angles, either aimed backwards by 24º to be used during the ...
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Apollo altitude vs rate-of-descent schedule
In the final phase of the Apollo landings, the commander would go into "P66 attitude hold" mode, where the computer maintained a steady rate of descent while allowing the commander to change ...
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Controlling suicide burn landing location in a python simulation?
I recently asked a question in stackoverflow about Simulation of suicide burn in openai-gym's LunarLander. Sadly most of my assumptions about suicide burn implementaion were wrong but the answer given ...
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Source for Apollo 11 descent time series data?
I'd like to find the state of the Apollo LM at various times during the powered descent phase: its position relative to the Moon's surface and/or the final touchdown point; its attitude in space, and ...
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Model multi-stage lunar transfer on GMAT?
I am new to GMAT, and I am wondering if it is possible to simulate a multi-stage lunar transfer on GMAT?
The mission sequence I am hoping to model is a low earth orbit, followed by a trans-lunar ...
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Can pressure fed engines augment Starship's landing on the Moon?
Can a pressure fed engine be powerful enough to augment the landing of Starship on the Moon? How much thrust is needed to land SS if it’s brought to zero velocity at an altitude of 10 meters?
A ...
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Could two space ships, traveling at different times, pass through the same space?
This question flows from the recent question Would rocket engine exhaust create pockets of gas in space which could hinder further space exploration? it talks about daily Earth — Moon trips
If we ...
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Single Engine versus Multiple Engines for Moon Landing
Does it really make any huge difference in the amount of lunar dust disturbed or raised during a Moon landing while using a single-engine compared to using multiple engines?
I do not think there ...
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Why is it so hard to land on the Moon?
Successful landings on the Moon happened 50 years ago. Technology (satellites, computer, ML) has come a long way during this time, so why did Israel and India fail recently to land a probe there?
Is ...
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Were Soviet plans for a manned lunar landing always lunar orbit rendezvous?
There are three basically three ways to get a person to the moon and back:
Direct. One spacecraft launches from Earth, lands on the moon, takes off again, and lands back on Earth. It may shed parts ...
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Why would thermal imaging be used to locate the Chandrayaan-2 lander?
Tweets and news suggest that Chandrayaan-2 lander may have been located, using thermal imaging by the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.
Space.com: India Just Found Its Lost Vikram Lander on the Moon, Still No ...
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What does Cees Bassa's Doppler plot of Chandrayaan 2 show?
Cees Bassa's tweet shows a plot of received frequency versus time, with the Doppler shift of the Moon's center of mass subtracted. For a lunar orbit the resulting plot would show sinusoidal-like ...
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Are there photos of the Apollo LM showing disturbed lunar soil resulting from descent engine exhaust?
Are there any photos of the Apollo LM descent engine bell and the lunar soil beneath it disturbed by the engine exhaust?
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Why do all recent proposed lunar landers have payloads on top?
Every recently-proposed vacuum lander I've seen has its payload as far off the ground as possible. This necessitates cranes, ladders, and elevators to get things down. (Starship may be a partial ...
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How was the cosmonaut of the Soviet moon mission supposed to get back in the return vehicle?
In the Soviet Moon mission, for which the ill fated N-1 launcher was built, we know that the cosmonaut responsible for landing on the moon was to transfer from the equivalent of the command module to ...
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How many different kinds of insulation film are wrapped around the Apollo Lunar Module?
In the image shown in the question Why is the Apollo LM landing gear covered with so much thermal isolation? (also shown below) it appears that the color of the film around the bottoms of the lander's ...
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How did astronauts using rovers tell direction without compasses on the Moon? [duplicate]
I read that the astronauts who used Lunar rovers used heading indicators, which typically use compasses, for direction. How, on the Moon, did their equipment tell the direction of travel, presuming a ...
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