Questions tagged [the-moon]
Questions about Earth's Moon. Also for questions about spacecraft, manned missions, potential missions, etc. related to Earth's Moon.
617
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Orbit transfer trajectory options to the moon
I am working on a project for a lunar flyby using a CubeSat. I was wondering what kind of trajectory transfer options are present and which one would be best for a CubeSat? I'm aiming for a transfer ...
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Stepper motor in lunar rover [closed]
I am working on the construction of a lunar rover, I am working on the mobility part and I thought about using a stepper motor, is this a good idea? I thought about using one of these given the ...
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How to estimate that receiving GNSS signals Earth while orbiting the Moon will still provide locations to about 200 meters of uncertainty?
IEEE Spectrum's Can Astronauts Use GPS to Navigate on the Moon? NASA Scientists Say Yes says:
Kar-Ming Cheung and Charles Lee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California did the math, and ...
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How to get lunar L, B, C parameters from the Moon's 3x3 rotation matrix from the Python package Skyfield?
Answers to What are the “Moon L, B, C” angles shown in this solar eclipse simulation? explain that L and B (or "l" and "b") are the "selenographic coordinates of the Moon's apparent center" (latitude ...
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How can Helium-3 be stored in a reentry vehicle returning to Earth? [closed]
I came up with an idea to mine Helio-3 on the moon in a way that of profit, consists of an ionic propeller, to send a small plant that uses a reflective parabola to heat a certain area and that there ...
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What antenna is needed to reach the lunar orbit? [closed]
What diameter and power does the receiving antenna and transmitter need?
5
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41 views
DIY Lunar regolith simulant
I'm looking to make a physical lunar regolith stimulant at home. I don't care about chemical composition, color, or anything like that, but I'd like it to behave similarly to actual lunar regolith in ...
3
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1answer
121 views
How bright is the Martian landscape during the long (up to two hour) twilight?
The answer to the question "How much more quickly does night come on Mars compared to Earth? Will it be easier to see Mercury there?" says Martian twilight can last up to two hours.
Has any lander ...
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36 views
Can the International Space Station be maneuvered towards the Moon? [duplicate]
Is it possible to maneuver ISS towards the Moon or Mars (rare case in future)?
6
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1answer
176 views
Mining Helium-3 on the moon and sending it to Earth?
It would be best to mine and process material on the moon to obtain helium-3, but my question is, what if we did an unmanned mission?
A small robot 1 meter long, powered by solar energy, that takes ...
5
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3answers
1k views
Could the Apollo astronauts distinguish Earth's continents and oceans from the moon?
This article "Earthshine Reflects Earth's Oceans And Continents From The Dark Side Of The Moon" indicates that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth’s land masses and oceans can be seen ...
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5answers
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Why is NASA building its own rocket for the moon mission when it could use SpaceX's?
I read in this article that NASA is building its own rocket for the moon mission.
Why would they build their outdated and inefficient rocket, when they could instead use a SpaceX rocket and use their ...
14
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3answers
2k views
Earth Moon Pork chop plot
Does pork-chop plots exist for Earth-Moon System? I could only find pork-chop plots for Earth-planet systems.Could someone please shed some light on this topic?
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1answer
66 views
Lunar landing module and orbiting space craft personnel transfer [duplicate]
How did the crew of Apollo get from the orbiting capsule into the Lunar lander, as the orbiter rocket engine was between the orbiter and Lunar lander?
4
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1answer
85 views
Where to find the full reflectance map of the Moon?
I'm looking for a reflectance map of the Moon to use in 3D visualization software. I've found NASA's CGI Moon Kit, which is described as
These color and elevation maps are designed for use in 3D ...
6
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0answers
132 views
Does the low gravity on Moon eliminate the need for a launch pad/flame trench for a reusable rocket launch?
I'm new to rocket science and I learned how the rockets do not reach full thrust immediately and isn't really stable for the initial couple of seconds - hence the need for "launch clamps" and a ...
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0answers
35 views
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 ...
5
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1answer
169 views
When the moon rock heats up to 600°C, does only Helium comes out?
When lunar rock is heated to 600 °C to extract Helium-3, are gases expelled other than helium? Inductance process would be used in heating the rock.
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0answers
37 views
How can 3He be mined on the moon? [duplicate]
Now I know how it is detected, but what would the mining process be like? given that there is a lot on the moon but not concentrated, so you have to process large amounts of surface to extract a ...
8
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1answer
116 views
How could the presence of 3He be detected on the lunar surface?
I have been investigating this isotope of helium for a while, which is extremely abundant on the moon (and in general in the entire solar system except on planets with atmosphere). It is believed that ...
1
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1answer
115 views
What calculations should I do to go from LEO to the moon with an ionic motor?
my question is, what calculations should I do to be able to go from LEO to the lunar orbit?
If this were done, two of these thrusters would be used
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/ifm-nano-...
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0answers
62 views
How much would reduce the cost of sending kgs to the moon having a 200,000 miles space elevator there?
According to this article/study
A space elevator to the moon could be doable
Its central element is a cable that would be anchored to the moon and
span more than 200,000 miles to a point above ...
9
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0answers
135 views
Where in the Pale Blue Dot image should the Earth's moon be?
In the description of this image it is claimed that Moon should be detectable in famous "Pale Blue Dot" image.
Detailed analysis also suggests that Voyager detected the moon as well, but it is too ...
6
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1answer
76 views
Chang'e 4 lunar rover movement
Recently China has released images of the far side of the Moon taken by Chang'e 4 mission's rover Yutu-2. While pictures are really nice and beautiful, I have stumbled to one rover movement feature ...
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3answers
316 views
How to solve this exercise in orbital mechanics; the moon stops in its orbit, what happens next?
As an exercise in orbital mechanics, suppose the moon were to suddenly stop orbiting Earth, and instead at time $t=0$ begin moving in the same direction as Earth so that their relative velocity were ...
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2answers
101 views
Why does it get hotter in the thermosphere than on the moon?
I would have expected the surface of the moon to be hotter. Both become hot owing to solar radiation.
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42 views
Ascent propulsion system [duplicate]
For lunar module and spacecraft ascent bipropellant hypergolic fuels comprising of N2O4 oxidizer and Hydrazine derivates/blends are used. How on Earth have we accepted such a dangerous, toxic, ...
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0answers
57 views
moon's true anomaly at date of new moon
I've seen on this site: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/moonorbit.html
a table that gives the true anomaly of the moon at the time of new moon.
The difference between the true anomaly at one new ...
2
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0answers
65 views
Mass of a circumlunar power transmission line?
The most easily available power source on the Moon is solar power. This has the obvious drawback that the night is two weeks long, during which you would probably still need power for a base to ...
asked Jan 15 at 23:25
SE - stop firing the good guys
18.8k1 gold badge66 silver badges126 bronze badges
3
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1answer
217 views
Did Project Horizon draft any proposals for small arms weapons for astronauts?
The 1959 Project Horizon discusses building a base on the moon, and also, according to the Wikipedia article, mentions weapons to be used for (of course) fighting the Soviets attacking the moon base, ...
2
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2answers
214 views
Interplanetary spacecraft flight operating system and programming language
Which programming languages and operating systems are mostly used for interplanetary satellites (such as a mission to the moon)?
To my knowledge, I know some LEO CubeSats use C programming language ...
3
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0answers
113 views
Building a city on the Moon using inflatable modules, and the Starship as a launch vehicle? [closed]
What are the main challenges for someone (such as Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk) to mass-produce a flight-ready inflatable habitat(1000 of them), capable of sustaining 16 humans, and use them to build a ...
9
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1answer
183 views
What went wrong in the Chandrayaan-2 mission with the Vikram lander?
On September 7th 2019, ISRO attempted to land a lunar lander ,Vikram, with rover , Pragyan, on the moon. It was very exciting to watch until the lander lost communication with ground station during ...
5
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1answer
705 views
Has there been any serious prospect of human landing on the far side of the Moon?
As far as I know, the only serious projects for human exploration of the Moon have been the Apollo project, some other US studies with Gemini capsules and a couple of embryonic Soviet projects.
I see ...
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0answers
92 views
Dealing with lunar regolith
NASA has announced its intention to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024. Various other questions and answers here address the many dangers and difficulties posed by the fine and abrasive particles ...
2
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1answer
102 views
Has SpaceX said much publicly about uncrewed landings on the surface of the Moon or Mars?
It seems like this would be very good publicity as well as a necessary proof of concept, and SpaceX certainly has some experience with robotic/automated landings on Earth.
I'm assuming this will be ...
6
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1answer
139 views
Did Apollo astronauts play on the Moon their pre-recorded music?
Apollo astronauts were equipped with Sony TC-50 cassette voice recorder/player (described in this answer) primarily for recording voice with mission related notes, but they could (and did) listen to ...
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1answer
101 views
Would mass drivers be able to transport base material on the moon more efficiently than drones?
I am a hobbyist working on a climate change adaptation idea that is a variation of orbital sun shades. It would project soil/material from the moon to provide targeted shading for whatever part of ...
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1answer
100 views
Trajectory Optimization To The Moon (Case Study: Chandrayaan-2)
People always ask this million dollar question of " What is the best path/trajectory to take to reach a certain orbit or point in space".
Chandrayaan-2 had a pretty neat transfer to the moon, it took ...
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Major topic headings for lunar CubeSat mission design planning?
I am working on a project to design a complete mission for a lunar CubeSat.
Assuming that the launch segment is already covered and I need to focus on the spacecraft design.
I wanted to know what ...
4
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3answers
2k views
How does a soft landing technically work without air on the moon?
I am curious to know about how rockets or an object lands on the moon when there isn't any air (atmosphere) and the gravity is low.
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1answer
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What is the density of supercooled LOX at −206 °C, as SpaceX uses it
I want to calculate the size in cubic meters of Starship's propellant tanks. The only figures for LOX I can find are at −183 °C. 1141.7 kg/m³ at −183 °C. Could somebody please calculate it at −206 °C,...
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0answers
105 views
How much did it cost to rush the Apollo program? [closed]
We know how much the Apollo program cost:
The United States spent \$28 billion to land men on the Moon between 1960 and 1973, or approximately \$288 billion when adjusted for inflation.
Source
...
4
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1answer
128 views
Exactly how does one lope on the Moon?
This answer includes several quotes from apollo astronauts that have walked on the moon. They describe a form of bipedal locomotion they call loping.
Question: Exactly how does one lope on the Moon? ...
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48 views
What would be the best course of orbital maneuvers for soft landing an asteroid near the lunar south pole? [duplicate]
Wouldn't it be nice for a colony near the south pole of our Moon to have a nickel-iron asteroid on the surface nearby !
Thousands near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) have been discovered with a diameter up to ...
4
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1answer
90 views
Question about orbital mechanics and trajectories for a space infrastructure project/climate adaption idea
I’m working on an alternate approach to the concept of using a solar shield to shade the earth from the Sun (to help with climate change adaptation). It would use streams of lunar soil from multiple ...
5
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2answers
203 views
What did walking on lunar regolith feel like?
Has the feel of walking on the regolith ever been described?
I've heard a description of regolith being like talcum powder (don't remember where I heard that). Since the bulk of regolith has a ...
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1answer
118 views
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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0answers
51 views
Will it be possible for the crewed Orion spacecraft to fly over the lunar south pole to land the VIPER rover there?
Artemis 2, the planned crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft, will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022 and will then be the first crewed spacecraft to the Moon in 50 years !
VIPER is a lunar ...
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0answers
58 views
What is the calculation for the distance VIPER can travel without recharging its batteries?
VIPER, the lunar rover NASA has developed to search for water in the permanently shadowed regions near the south pole of our Moon, will be equipped with (rechargeable) batteries to be able to drive, ...
