Starship Asterisk*

by **Ron-Astro Pharmacist** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 4:30 pm

We have "the first picture taken by a person on another world" but not an excellent picture of the first person on another world.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/a ... on/261622/

With the plethora of camera gear

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/ ... otography/

was there a photography plan in place that had people specificity?

http://www.msss.com/moon/apollo11/apollo11.html

Although the most important task of the mission was scientific information gathering I know there were personal goals also in place.

http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum14 ... 01059.html

I think this points out how much planning it took in sending men to the moon and not all contingencies could be realized. But no good picture of the first man on the moon – one great stumble for (a) man and a great lapse for mankind. Live and learn – there are other "worlds" to be first explored and none of us go without making mistakes; we just keep plugging along.

by **DavidLeodis** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:58 pm

In regard to the magnificent desolation the APOD of November 9 2003 'Apollo 17 Lunarscape: A Magnificent Desolation' should be of interest. This is the link to that APOD:- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031109.html

by **BDanielMayfield** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:04 pm

Nitpicker wrote:Without crediting Aldrin for the phrase (which I don't hold to be necessary), putting quotation marks around the words "magnificent desolation" in the APOD caption, might have suggested sarcasm, or some other unstraightforward meaning, to some readers at least. I suppose the caption could have linked the phrase to one of the many webpages recounting Aldrin's famous words.

geckzilla wrote:I think scare quotes are best avoided with rare exception. It's just bad taste. And yes, quote marks around those two words would easily be confused as scare quotes.

Thanks for these answers. I like Nitpicker's suggestion of including a link.

by **geckzilla** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 6:16 am

I think scare quotes are best avoided with rare exception. It's just bad taste. And yes, quote marks around those two words would easily be confused as scare quotes.

by **Nitpicker** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 3:35 am

BDanielMayfield wrote:
BDanielMayfield wrote:
APOD Robot wrote: ... this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility.
Shouldn't "magnificent desolation" be in quotes? Which astronaut first used that phrase about the lunar surface?
Looked it up myself. The second man to set foot on the Moon:
Buzz Aldrin wrote:Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation.
His words after following Armstrong onto the lunar surface.

Without crediting Aldrin for the phrase (which I don't hold to be necessary), putting quotation marks around the words "magnificent desolation" in the APOD caption, might have suggested sarcasm, or some other unstraightforward meaning, to some readers at least. I suppose the caption could have linked the phrase to one of the many webpages recounting Aldrin's famous words.

by **DavidLeodis** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 1:37 pm

I still recall the awe and wonder of seeing on television the stepping onto the Moon and the blast-off from the surface. They are things that I will never forget

. In time to come no doubt seeing the first human to walk on Mars will be amazing, though it's extremely unlikely I will be around to see that

.

Talking of the Apollo 11 crew I was surprised (and pleased) to find that Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins are still alive, as for some reason I thought they had died some while back. It was sad when Neil Armstrong died, but what a place he will always hold in human achievements.

by **APODFORIST** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 12:12 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
rstevenson wrote:
APODFORIST wrote:It's an amazing picture. The craters look quite dangerous for a safe and horizontal touchdown. Lucky guys.
Not luck, skill. It was a controlled descent, with Armstrong at the (semi-automatic) controls. He guided the lander away from its expected touchdown point, which was far too rocky for a safe landing.
Exactly. And even with modern self-guided landings like that of Curiosity, success isn't due to luck (although there's always an element of that). Whether directly guided by a human (as in the case of Apollo 11), or indirectly (as in the case of a programmed, autonomous robot), it still gets back to good mission design. The better the design, the less important is luck.

Armstrong was skilled for sure. He flew over rocks and found the new safer landing position within the last minute. But I am not sure if he was able to see all the crater positions below the lander.

by **BDanielMayfield** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:53 am

BDanielMayfield wrote:
APOD Robot wrote: ... this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility.
Shouldn't "magnificent desolation" be in quotes? Which astronaut first used that phrase about the lunar surface?

Looked it up myself. The second man to set foot on the Moon:

Buzz Aldrin wrote:Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation.

His words after following Armstrong onto the lunar surface.

by **Beyond** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 1:38 am

But the 'social networkers' get to be off the planet a lot longer than the astronauts who went to the moon.

by **geckzilla** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 12:10 am

rstevenson wrote:
APODFORIST wrote:It's an amazing picture. The craters look quite dangerous for a safe and horizontal touchdown. Lucky guys.
Not luck, skill. It was a controlled descent, with Armstrong at the (semi-automatic) controls. He guided the lander away from its expected touchdown point, which was far too rocky for a safe landing.

Skilled, no doubt, but lucky to be chosen for the mission itself to become astronauts. Becoming an astronaut requires a hefty dose of luck... and, these days, multiple PhD's help. Being astronauts who got to land on the moon instead of sit around a space station doing social networking? Luckier still!

by **rstevenson** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:27 pm

hoohaw wrote:Usually we get a lot of comments. Yet for commemoration of the most astounding exploration in human history.....

There were probably a hundred other posts denying the Moon landings ever took place, but our intrepid list moms evaporated them before we ever saw them.

Rob

by **hoohaw** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:09 pm

Usually we get a lot of comments. Yet for commemoration of the most astounding exploration in human history.....

by **Ron-Astro Pharmacist** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:37 pm

I was just looking at the cruise book of the U.S.S. Essex (CVA-9) Second Korean Cruise. In it is a photo of Neil Armstrong along side Lt Golding and the rest of their V-3 division. My dad was a gunner in the G-5 division on the same cruise. I can’t imagine the pride of those who knew him personally in those days. The tales they have probably told over years. It’s a small reward for their service to our country.

There is a good recounting of that time and of much of his life (including the moon mission) in the biography by Hansen, James R. (2005). First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. I enjoyed it very much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong

I was going to share the photo until I notice the copyright in the front of the book.

by **BDanielMayfield** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:32 pm

Jim Armstrong wrote:Whenever I see Apollo 11 pictures such as this one or read related stories, I still get shivers and goosebumps.

Any relation to Neil, Jim?

by **BDanielMayfield** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:31 pm

APOD Robot wrote: ... this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility.

Shouldn't "magnificent desolation" be in quotes? Which astronaut first used that phrase about the lunar surface?

by **Jim Armstrong** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:07 pm

Whenever I see Apollo 11 pictures such as this one or read related stories, I still get shivers and goosebumps.

by **Chris Peterson** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:19 pm

rstevenson wrote:
APODFORIST wrote:It's an amazing picture. The craters look quite dangerous for a safe and horizontal touchdown. Lucky guys.
Not luck, skill. It was a controlled descent, with Armstrong at the (semi-automatic) controls. He guided the lander away from its expected touchdown point, which was far too rocky for a safe landing.

Exactly. And even with modern self-guided landings like that of Curiosity, success isn't due to luck (although there's always an element of that). Whether directly guided by a human (as in the case of Apollo 11), or indirectly (as in the case of a programmed, autonomous robot), it still gets back to good mission design. The better the design, the less important is luck.

by **rstevenson** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:10 pm

APODFORIST wrote:It's an amazing picture. The craters look quite dangerous for a safe and horizontal touchdown. Lucky guys.

Not luck, skill. It was a controlled descent, with Armstrong at the (semi-automatic) controls. He guided the lander away from its expected touchdown point, which was far too rocky for a safe landing.

Rob

by **Boomer12k** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 3:21 pm

A barren dessert with its own stark beauty....but soon you long for TREES....

:---[===] *

by **APODFORIST** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 3:20 pm

It's an amazing picture. The craters look quite dangerous for a safe and horizontal touchdown. Lucky guys.

by **barryl** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 3:14 pm

Yes. That makes perfect sense. I oddly tethered the need for data to a need for its immediate use.

by **Chris Peterson** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:44 pm

barryl wrote:The last statement about the photos being "...intended to initially document the landing site in case an early departure was necessary.": How would that work? They were shooting film. How could those undeveloped images help plan for an early departure?

I think the goal was to rapidly acquire data to take back with them in the event that an early departure prevented the later mission goals from being achieved.

by **barryl** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:35 pm

The last statement about the photos being "...intended to initially document the landing site in case an early departure was necessary.": How would that work? They were shooting film. How could those undeveloped images help plan for an early departure?

by **hoohaw** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:56 am

Talk about being "up a creek!" But, in this case, WITH a paddle!
Looking back on it all, it seems just incredible that it all worked, and worked so well, so many times....

by **APOD Robot** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 5:06 am

Apollo 11 Landing Site Panorama

Explanation: Have you seen a panorama from another world lately? Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility. Taken by Neil Armstrong looking out his window of the Eagle Lunar Module, the frame at the far left (AS11-37-5449) is the first picture taken by a person on another world. Toward the south, thruster nozzles can be seen in the foreground on the left, while at the right, the shadow of the Eagle is visible toward the west. For scale, the large, shallow crater on the right has a diameter of about 12 meters. Frames taken from the Lunar Module windows about an hour and a half after landing, before walking on the lunar surface, were intended to initially document the landing site in case an early departure was necessary.

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