New answers tagged apollo-program
8
The weight and complexity of using the launch escape system negate any advantages.
Using the LE rocket as it was designed, i.e. to give a brief, powerful burst would have meant strengthening the couplings between the capsule and the launcher, and strengthening the launcher to be able to withstand that force. Adding strength means adding weight, and it could ...
6
I am working at a repository to collect all data about Apollo 11 / LEM-5 / G-Mission powered descent:
https://github.com/jumpjack/Apollo11LEMdata
Data are "hidden" in several different documents; the only data I was able to find in tabular format are altitude data (in the infamous "volume 1"); for all others it's necessary to digitize ...
26
The thrust of the Launch Escape System (LES) might look significant, but the total impulse is not (that is, they burn for such a short time, they can't actually impart much delta-V, especially not while the spacecraft is still attached to its mostly-fueled carrier rocket). The longer the LES remains attached to the spacecraft, the more impulse the carrier ...
11
The thrust of the Apollo launch escape rocket was negligible small when compared to the thrust of the Saturn V first and second stages.The burn time of the launch escape system was negligible small too.
first stage 7,891,000 lbf (35,100 kN) sea level, burn time 168 seconds
second stage 1,155,800 lbf (5,141 kN), burn time 360 seconds
third stage 232,250 lbf (...
0
Even if a Saturn would be ready at the launch site, it would have been impossible.
Each mission needed a specific version of the programs for the guidance computers of the LM and CM. Manual manufacture of the core rope memories took several months.
The software version for each mission was an individual design for the specific launch date and landing ...
3
Indeed NASA did bring a launchpad to the Moon; it's still there, together with further 5 launchpads of the other Apollo missions. They have been portrayed from orbit by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Descent stage from orbit:
Ascent and descent stage coupled:
Descent stage (=launchpad for ascent stage):
Damage from regolite is a problem on the Moon: it was ...
18
How long would it take to launch an Apollo contingency flight, if, for example, the lunar lander couldn't get back up to orbit?
There was never a facility for contingency launches on the Apollo lunar missions. The LM's ascent engine simply had to work, or the astronauts on the lunar surface would die there.
All the Apollo launches were months apart. There ...
1
No.
A standard umbrella requires a very complicated arm and hand mechanism to close it. This will not work in space.
In addition, an umbrella is not airtight, does not allow crewmembers to pass through it, and does not align and hold together two vehicles with a mass of many tens of tons.
7
The Soviets designed a super-simple docking mechanism for their failed lunar program.
Of course, the price was that you had to EVA-transfer from craft to craft.
It was never used.
Source: https://space.stackexchange.com/a/37914/6944
27
There were issues with the docking system so it possibly it needed to be more complex. Docking is always a trade off of mechanism simplicity VS event simplicity. Just using pipe flange with bolt holes would be mechanically simple but makes each event complicated with a space walk, spanner and lots of free floating fasteners, or you can make it involve a set ...
21
Answer: The sun has an outrageously strong magnetic field. The corona is highly ionized and interacts with the magnetic field. This produces corona symmetry around the magnetic pole axis. The corona is not spherically symmetric.
I braved the world’s biggest traffic jam to witness the 2017 solar eclipse. I watched the corona with bare eyeballs through ...
2
Note that "32 minutes past the hour" is true whether you are referring to Eastern Time or UTC. Just the "hour" is different.
Because a program references UTC, does not mean that other times are not used. The main reference time for Apollo was GET.
The term “GET” (Ground Elapsed Time), used for manned U.S. spaceflights prior to the Space ...
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