Category: Moon Landing

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Moon Landing Space Exploration

Quote of the day by Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon (cropped)
Moon Landing: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, stands on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module, Eagle, during the Apollo 11 moonwalk. Astronaut Neil Armstrong, mission commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the lunar module to explore the Sea of Tranquility, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained in lunar orbit with the Command and Service Module, Columbia.
This is the actual photograph as exposed on the moon by Armstrong. He held the camera slightly rotated so that the camera frame did not include the top of Aldrin's portable life support system ("backpack").
A communications antenna mounted on top of the backpack is also cut off in this picture. When the image was released to the public, it was rotated clockwise to restore the astronaut to vertical for a more harmonious composition, and a black area was added above his head to recreate the missing black lunar "sky" (Related: Why there are no stars in space photos?). The edited version is the one most commonly reproduced and known to the public, but the original version, above, is the authentic exposure. This image was cataloged by NASA Headquarters of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: AS11-40-5903. Image: Wikipedia

On December 27, 2019, Buzz Aldrin, one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, published the famous photo of himself standing on the lunar soil, saying:

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Moon Landing Space Exploration

This is how I instantly shut down a “the moon landing was faked” debate

James B. Irwin salutes the United States flag on the Moon (cropped)
Apollo 15 Lunar module pilot (LMP) James B. Irwin salutes the United States flag on the Moon, August 1, 1971. Photo: Wikipedia

The moon landing was faked? Many conspiracy theorists hold that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax, despite tons of evidence it really happened. When I get into a debate with any moon landing conspiracy theorists (I usually try not to get into this, though, life is too short to debate with morons), I send them this link “China’s first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished” and “the moon landing was faked” debate is always over.

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Moon Landing Earth from Space Space Exploration

A spectacular crescent Earth rising over the Moon [Apollo 14 image]

A crescent Earth rising over the Moon
A crescent Earth rising over the Moon, seen from Apollo 14 on February 6, 1971. This is a cropped and resized image. You can see the original image on NASA website.

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for February 1, 2020: a crescent Earth rising over the Moon, seen from Apollo 14 on February 6, 1971. This photo is not as famous as the Apollo 8 Earthrise, or the Blue Marble, but it has such an eerie beauty.

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Space Exploration Mars Moon Landing

NASA and CSA welcomes 13 new astronauts and almost half of them are women

13 new astronauts - the turtles
NASA's new class of astronauts - the first to graduate since the agency announced its Artemis program - appear on stage during their graduation ceremony at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Jan. 10, 2020. The class includes 11 NASA astronauts, as well as two Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronauts, selected in 2017. They will join the active astronaut corps, beginning careers in exploration that may take them to the International Space Station, on missions to the Moon under the Artemis program, or someday, Mars. Pictured from left are: Kayla Barron of NASA, Zena Cardman of NASA, Raja Chari of NASA, Matthew Dominick of NASA, Bob Hines of NASA, Warren Hoburg of NASA, Jonny Kim of NASA, Joshua Kutryk of CSA, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, Loral O'Hara of NASA, Jessica Watkins of NASA, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons of CSA, and Frank Rubio of NASA. image: NASA

NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) chose 13 new astronauts, and the good news is, almost half of them are women. Nicknamed “turtles“, six women and seven men were selected from record-breaking 18,000 applicants representing a wide variety of backgrounds and specialties.

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Space Exploration Astronomy Mars Moon Landing

Top 20 Exciting Advances in Space Science in the 2010s

Mars Curiosity Rover Selfie
This self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the "Mojave" site, where its drill collected the mission's second taste of Mount Sharp. The scene combines dozens of images taken during January 2015 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the rover's robotic arm. The pale "Pahrump Hills" outcrop surrounds the rover, and the upper portion of Mount Sharp is visible on the horizon. Darker ground at upper right and lower left holds ripples of wind-blown sand and dust. Image: NASA.gov Some conspiracy theorists ask "where is the robotic arm?", "who took this photo?", "who holds the camera" etc. The view does not include the rover's robotic arm. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic's component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images, or portions of images, that were used in this mosaic. This process was used previously in acquiring and assembling Curiosity self-portraits taken at sample-collection sites "Rocknest" (PIA16468), "John Klein" (PIA16937) and "Windjana" (PIA18390).

Today is the last day of the 2010s – and what a decade it has been for space science and space exploration! Here is a timeline of the top 20 major (and exciting!) advances in space science in the 2010s.

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Moon Landing Earth from Space Space Exploration

Apollo 12 and its destination (Moon) in the same photo

Apollo 12 at the launchpad (cropped)
This historic image, taken on October 28, 1969 (50 years ago) frames the Apollo 12 spacecraft atop the mighty Saturn V rocket and its destination, the Moon, in a single photo. This is a cropped image.

NASA has published a beautiful photo of Apollo 12 at the launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39. This historic image, taken on October 28, 1969 (50 years ago) frames the Apollo 12 spacecraft atop the mighty Saturn V rocket and its destination, the Moon, in a single photo.

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Space Exploration Mars Moon Landing Planet Earth

NASA’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) about Van Allen Probes

Van Allen Probes (artist imagination)
Van Allen Probes (artist imagination) Originally slated for a two-year mission, the spacecraft flew through the Van Allen belts - rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field - to understand how particles were gained and lost by the belts. The spacecraft made major discoveries that revolutionized how we understand our near-Earth environment. With instruments measuring electromagnetic fields and charged particles, the Van Allen Probes explored the invisible phenomena shepherding particles in and around the belts. It made discoveries about the architecture of the belts and the forces shaping them. Just as ocean storms on Earth can create giant waves, space weather, caused by the Sun, can create plasma waves, where seas of particles are tossed by electromagnetic fields. The Van Allen Probes pioneered new explorations into the dynamics of these waves and their effects on our near-Earth environment.

On October 18, 2019, NASA held an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. Scientists from the space agency answered questions about Van Allen Probes, two robotic spacecraft that were used to study the Van Allen radiation belts that surround planet Earth.

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Moon Landing Space Exploration

Descending to the Moon [scientists reconstruct what Buzz Aldrin saw]

Lunar landing video reconstruction (screenshot)
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team reconstructed the last three minutes of the landing trajectory (latitude, longitude, orientation, velocity, altitude) using landmark navigation and altitude call outs from the voice recording. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon. In operation since 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) is a system of three cameras mounted on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that capture high-resolution photos of the lunar surface.

“Tranquility Base here. The eagle has landed.” Neil Armstrong said so as the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle touched down on the lunar surface on Sunday, July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC.

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Moon Landing Space Exploration

NASA has restored the historic Apollo Mission Control Room

Restored version of the historic NASA Apollo Mission control room.
Restored version of the historic NASA Apollo Mission control room. From this legendary room, the United States conducted some of its most amazing space missions. Now, the Historic Mission Control Center at the NASA Johnson Space Center has undergone a massive restoration to bring the room back to life as it appeared during the Apollo era. Historians and technicians have made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and to preserve this room for future generations. As NASA looks to send humans deeper into space than ever before, the Historic Mission Control will serve as a reminder that anything is possible.

The historic Apollo mission control room in Houston has been fully restored by NASA for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Now it provides a snapshot of how it looked during the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969.

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Moon Landing Space Exploration

Apollo 17 and its destination (Moon) in one photo

Apollo 17 during the prelaunch, with the Moon is in the background (cropped)
Apollo 17 during the prelaunch, with the Moon, the spacecraft's destination is in the background. Launched on December 7, 1972, and concluded on December 19, 1972, Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program. It was also the 11th manned space mission in the Apollo program. Its crew consisted of Commander Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans. Cernan and Schmitt landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley and completed three moonwalks, taking lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. The landing site had been chosen to further the mission's main goals: to sample lunar highland material older than Mare Imbrium and to investigate the possibility of relatively recent volcanic activity. Evans remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module (CSM), taking scientific measurements and photographs. This is a cropped image. You can see the full-size image on the NASA website

An amazing NASA archive photo showing Apollo 17 during the prelaunch, with the Moon (a full moon), the spacecraft’s destination is in the background.

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