Questions tagged [the-moon]
Questions about Earth's Moon. Also for questions about spacecraft, manned missions, potential missions, etc. related to Earth's Moon.
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What assumptions were made about the sphericity of the Moon for the Apollo program?
I've just been reading about the Apollo program.
Apollo 8 seems to have gone into a fairly circular lunar orbit 69 miles at perigee.
Apollo 10 was pretty much similar, although they dipped down with ...
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Where can I find the video of Apollo 16 floodlight mistaken with a UFO?
So, a few years ago (2004) NASA showed that a picture of a supposed UFO captured by the Apollo 16 astronauts through the window of the Command Module was in fact the floodlight protruding from the ...
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Fastest time to Moon for Starship
What is the fastest time to the Moon possible with Starship in the near future, assuming there is orbital refueling?
Is sustained acceleration and then deceleration possible at say 0.25G, to reduce ...
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Images of Starry night sky (maybe with milky way galaxy) from the Moon?
For the Apollo missions, it has often been said that images of other stars/milky way galaxy could not be captured since they mostly landed in sunlit areas and the reflectance of moon's surface ...
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Why can't lunar rovers survive long duration nights?
I saw that some missions end with the lunar night time, and the rovers are trashed permanently instead of trying to survive the night.
The concerns have to do with trying to keep the rover at ...
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How did sulphur come up to the surface of the moon?
We know that the Chandrayaan-3 mission found the presence of sulphur on the surface of the moon.
How did it come up to the surface of the moon if this element is supposed to be in the moon's core ...
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Why do we need to make probes land on other planets or moons?
This is a very dumb question but I am really curious to know the answer. Today I was watching the live streaming of Chandrayan 3 landing on the moon (which it successfully did) and this question came ...
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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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How do you defend the following about the Apollo 11 mission? [duplicate]
I read that when the Apollo 11 spacecraft reached the earth's orbit then the engines burnt to initiate TLI(Trans-Lunar Injection) which increased the speed of the spacecraft to 24,500 miles per hour, ...
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What is the cheapest/simplest way to deliver a camera to the moon? [closed]
The primary objective is this: to deliver a camera to the moon that live streams to Earth throughout the journey AND once it arrives on the moon.
A bonus is if it can then move around on the Moon.
An ...
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Why does this journey to the moon take so long?
I remember the Apollo missions and I'm pretty sure it took about three days to reach the moon.
India’s space agency is set to launch its homegrown Chandrayaan-3 moon mission from the southeastern ...
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Is there a labelled equivalent of the NASA 4K moon texture files?
Does anyone know whether a labelled version of the NASA 4k moon texture files exists with the same projection?
I would like to be able to overlay and switch between the photographic versions, and a ...
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Energy Needed for Lunar Lander to Ascend?
Is it possible to calculate how much energy was expended when the Apollo 11 lunar lander ascended from the Moon's surface to join the Command Module in lunar orbit?
Many relevant parameters for the ...
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Different Earth-centered ICRF positions in GMAT and Skyfield/Spiceypy with DE421
I compared the Earth-centered positions from the Moon in the ICRF (i.e., in GCRF) using three different sources:
SpiceyPy (https://pypi.org/project/spiceypy/)
Skyfield (https://rhodesmill.org/...
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EPS sizing for lunar mission
As part of a university project, I am working on EPS sizing for a mission to the lunar environment. I have sized the SA and batteries, chosen the components and the PDCU; however, having never been in ...
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Would a laser seismometer work from lunar orbit?
Lasers today have become extremely sensible, they can detect sub-millimeter movements of a surface from a distance. Could this feature be exploited to create a lunar seismometer working from a probe ...
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Would Li-Ion batteries for a lunar base energy storage system be transported to the base charged or uncharged?
I'm investigating lunar base power systems and energy storage systems (ESS). One option is photovoltaics (PV) and Li-Ion batteries. A large mass of batteries would be required to power the base during ...
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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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Is the crust of the Moon different on the near side and the far side?
If you assume that the origin of the Moon is due to an object hitting the Earth. The difference between far side and the near side of the Moon can be explained, if the 'chip' knocked off the Earth to ...
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What is the Delta V from the Moon to Earth Sun L1?
There are various proposals to build infrastructure at Earth/Sun L1 point, such as discussed in this question. From LEO the Delta V cost to L1 is about 3.5 kms or about kg of propellant in LEO for ...
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NASA CAPSTONE Radiation shielding
What solutions in radiation shielding or radiation effect mitigation were made on the NASA CAPSTONE mission? Specifically, anything related to radiation shielding is of interest.
I'm having trouble ...
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If we make a Mars or moon station, how would the carbon and water cycle work if the Earth was destroyed? [duplicate]
If it costs 50k to fly 1 pound to space, how much would the machine cost? I'm a 7th grader and I need help on my project. How would the carbon and water cycle machines work? This is hypothetical.
user51001
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Why are tunnels not popular considerations for Lunar or Mars colonies?
In many modern movies, books, articles, blogs, renders etc which talk about colonies on Mars or the Moon, I often see things like habitation modules or 3D/SDL printed regolith structures and similar ...
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How bright would Earthlight be from the surface of the Moon? Can you read under the light of the Earth?
In the lunar sky, the Earth would certainly outshine the Moon from its place in the sky of Earth. However, I can find very little about what it would actually be like.
I am wondering about the size of ...
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Google maps for Space exploration
Google Maps
Can Google Maps for Space Exploration be defined similar to our planet Earth? I.e Planet Mars exploration, Moon exploration, International Space Station (ISS) journey and other planets of ...
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What happened to ArgoMoon?
The primary objective of the Italian ArgoMoon cubesat was to image the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) after being jettisoned from it.
Argotec engineers noticed the inability of the Interim ...
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Lunar nuclear power system - how can hydrogen generated on the Moon be liquefied?
In September 2020, NASA asked for proposals for a lunar nuclear power system.
The 10-kW water electrolysis system can create 5-10 tons of hydrogen in a week from the Moon’s surface ice.
How would you ...
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Could we by ordinary mining activities, affect the Lunar orbit?
In The Time Machine (Guy Pearce version), they manage to literally break up the Earth's moon with obviously disastrous results and I believe they were just building underground structures.
I am ...
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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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How much mass will Artemis landers deliver to the moon?
Is there an estimate of the mass Artemis Landers must be able to deliver to the Lunar surface? I am interested in the total mass - vehicle and payload on arrival - as well as a breakdown of how much ...
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Are there any asteroids between the Earth and the Moon which could also serve as a base
I read about this tennis court sized asteroid
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/nov/11/near-earth-asteroid-is-a-fragment-from-the-moon-say-scientists
It appears to be between the Moon & ...
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Why is there a 38.6 km Earth-Moon distance difference between Ephemeris types "Observer table" and "Vector table" on Horizons Web Application?
The image above is a screenshot from Horizons Web Application with the Ephemeris type: Observer Table.
It shows the distance (delta) from the geocentric observer location to target Moon on April 15, ...
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Why is the Orion capsule using 2 burns to transfer from the moon back to earth instead of one?
I was reading an article about how the Orion capsule just did the first of two burns that it will use to transfer out of its lunar orbit and back to Earth.
I understand the phenomenon of a gravity ...
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Orion Navigation Camera Image Quality
On November 21, 2022, the Orion Navigation Camera made several images of the lunar surface.
Flight Day 6: Orion's Optical Navigation Camera Captures Lunar Surface
The image quality is much lower ...
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Why not crash the ICPS into the Moon?
The Wikipedia article on Artemis 1 says that an ICPS disposal burn was performed after spacecraft separation. This was intended to send the ICPS into heliocentric orbit after passing the Moon. Why ...
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The costs of a single SLS solid fuel rocket booster
Why didn’t Nasa cluster four solid fuel shuttle boosters around an Atlas V booster. The thrust would be substantially more than that of the SLS, with no fueling problem on the launch pad. It would be ...
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Why does the the Artemis I translunar flight (have to) last 6 days while the Apollo fights to the Moon lasted only about 3 days? [duplicate]
Does the Artemis I flight to the Moon have to last so long compared to the about 3 days long lasting Apollo flights because the Orion spacecraft has to enter into a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) ?
Or ...
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What is the point of the Artemis program when we had Apollo? [closed]
Considering that NASA evidently already know how to land astronauts on the Moon (thanks to Apollo), what is the point of the Artemis program? For example, the just-launched Artemis 1 is 1) uncrewed ...
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Will or could real-time HDTV broadcasts be possible from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I spaceflight around the Moon?
Earhrise, image taken from Apollo 8 by William Anders, Credits: NASA
Starting with Apollo 8, there where 4 (!) crewed missions to the Moon in one year time !
(Apollo 8, 10,11 and 12)
Will or could ...
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Will SpaceX help with the Lunar Gateway Space Station at all?
Will the LGSS be assisted by SpaceX at all. For example, will the LGSS use SpaceX crew vehicles, or any of their services at all? If so, how often.
user49758
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Duplicated and Distorted Fiducials
In the Apollo photographic record there are dozens of duplicated and distorted fiducials. They mostly occur on color images and when the camera is pointed directly at the sun or the sun is just out of ...
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Is a low-energy cruise an option for manned lunar flights?
Some lunar probes such as GRAIL travelled on a different trajectory to the Moon that went even much farther than the Moon itself is from Earth, to a Langrangian point, so why isn't this option ever ...
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Time a rocky satellite in lunar "frozen" orbit spends in Earth's umbra during total lunar eclipse
I am wondering how long a large satellite in a lunar frozen orbit would remain in the Earth's umbra during a total lunar eclipse.
The satellite is spheroid with a diameter of 200 km. Let us say that ...
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What is the optimal acceleration for a direct ascent to the moon? [duplicate]
If a rocket flies to any object using a direct ascent it is best for it to reach the needed speed as soon as possible because of the Hohmann effect. When it launches from the ground there is air ...
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Are the Artemis Missions direct ascent?
I’ve been looking at “exploded” SLS rockets, where the stages are all shown, and there never seems to be a lunar lander. Does that mean that the Orion Spacecraft lands on the moon, or will it have a ...
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How to protect Mars/Moon mission crews against meteors?
Humans are expected to return to the Moon (see Artemis) and maybe go to Mars (see this and this) within a decade or two.
Meteors frequently strike the surface of both the Moon and Mars (one can't ...
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Secondary radiation on the moon? (reference request)
I am studying the radiation environment on the moon and would like to read about how secondary radiation has been measured, simulated or even estimated for the lunar surface.
Has this been done? If so,...
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did the Apollo ascent module have a rocket motor?
I was watching this video of an Apollo ascent module taking off (captured by a lunar rover credit: NASA) and there is no evidence of a rocket motor not even a glint of light that would signal rocket ...
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What happened to the Apollo moon rovers? [duplicate]
I wonder, what happened to the moon rovers? Were they left behind or brought back?
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Why are Moon Rockets (Saturn V, N1) so much bigger than the Titan IIIE?
In what little knowledge of space and rockets I have, it seems to me that the further the object your aiming for, the more fuel you’ll need, and the bigger engines you’ll need. Having compared the ...