You Should Be Able To See Tonights Moonlaunch At 11:27pm

[Gump]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/06/219674372/85-million-have-a-shot-at-seeing-tonights-moon-launch

 

[ReconRat]

NASA visibilty map for the launch. I'm not going to look, too far away.

 

I think I'll watch the streaming video instead.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html

http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

 

 

Edited September 7, 2013 by ReconRat

[Gump]

Cool. I'm on the line and high up in the sticks, gotta good chance to see it.

[ReconRat]

Watch East-South-East, and really close to the horizon. It will show up maybe 5 degrees above the horizon. That's about half a fist at arm's length.

[Gump]

thank you

[Gump]

I stuck it in my Spyglass app. It's 340.9 miles away. 120.2 degrees SE

[speedytriple]

We went out and tried to see it but nothing noticeable so we are looking at the online site now.

[Gump]

Clouds....

[Mj 88]

Nothing, but thanks for the heads up!

[chevysoldier]

I watched the stream. Pretty cool stuff.

[QuikAccord]

They say it should take them about 30 days to reach the moon.

So why did then Apollo 11 mission only take 4 days to reach the moon?

I realize I can easily answer my own question with certain assumptions.. However I would like to know the facts between the difference of the two missions. You would think with the technological advancements we have since then we would be able to get there faster... Unless....

Edited September 7, 2013 by QuikAccord

[RHill]

They say it should take them about 30 days to reach the moon.

So why did then Apollo 11 mission only take 4 days to reach the moon?

I realize I can easily answer my own question with certain assumptions.. However I would like to know the facts between the difference of the two missions. You would think with the technological advancements we have since then we would be able to get there faster... Unless....

 

life support = payload....longer duration, more supplies, more payload.  No people, no life support, no rush.  No rush, smaller rockets, reduced costs.

[ReconRat]

Plus we didn't really know a lot about radiation in space and what it would do to the astronauts, back in Apollo days.

What we did know, was that faster was less exposure. And that was from leaving orbit till they got back.

Radiation on the Moon is about the same as open space. So we did it quickly.

 

Plus that thing about provisions also. Taking a long time would just mean more air and food to haul along. The alternative is hauling fuel to go quickly. It's a balancing act.

 

Plus... Apollo missions were launched with Saturn V. One of the largest and most powerful rockets ever built. It put a lot of stuff up there, with enough fuel to get to the Moon quickly. The little rocket lauched last night isn't going to do that.

[Gump]

What are they looking for? There were dust samplers et cetera on it.

[ReconRat]

Mostly an atmospheric investigator. Almost no atmosphere there, but they want to check it out anyway.

And checking out the dust. We're getting to the level where we want to build stuff on the moon, manned or unmanned.

 

Misson Overview

--Ultraviolet and Visible Light Spectrometer
--Neutral Mass Spectrometer
--Lunar Dust Experiment
--Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration

 

Dust is a important issue. The Apollo missions had no idea that they'd run into dust that would cling to everything, get all over and inside everything they had. It was a worry, it could have damaged equipment. I don't think we've got a method to keep it under control yet. It's a mess. And it smells funny. It smells like gunpowder. Which is probably residue from the solar wind, not the dusty soil.

 

The government probably won't put many people on the Moon. Neither will the military.

 

It will be civilians looking for a new frontier to conquer.

Edited September 8, 2013 by ReconRat