|
Author
|
Topic: Tranquility (first, second and third) base
|
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-17-2008 10:34 AM
   
 This terrific map, which gives new meaning to Tranquility Base, was found on the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. It is not new — it dates back to February 2005 — but has received new attention this week by the Strange Maps blog and New Scientist. For our oversees readers, there's a soccer football field version, too. 
|
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 04-17-2008 09:18 PM
Let me be the first to say...I don't get it. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-17-2008 09:44 PM
I don't think there is much more to these maps than being an interesting way of placing the Apollo 11 landing site and the astronauts' EVA activities into an easily relatable scale. |
farthestreaches
Member Posts: 1075
From: Redondo Beach, Ca
Registered: Jan 2001
|
posted 04-17-2008 10:12 PM
Thanks Robert - gives a good idea of scale, and the relatively short distances traveled. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1940
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
|
posted 04-18-2008 05:49 AM
Those are great diagrams. They really help set the scale of Apollo 11's EVA activities- the lunar module was about as wide as a pitcher's mound, they walked about the width of a pitcher's mound, etc. I'll add them to the images I'll show my students in future years.Steve |
golddog
Member Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008
|
posted 04-18-2008 06:17 AM
I am just curious, why is Armstong's walk over to east crater a different shape on each map? |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 04-18-2008 09:35 AM
I think the scale indicator on the map does the job just fine. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-18-2008 10:30 AM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
I think the scale indicator on the map does the job just fine.
Some people can visualize distances better than others. They are in the same spirit as when the KSC Visitor Complex tour guides explain that Yankee Stadium could sit atop the VAB with room for parking, or in the IMAX film "Magnificent Desolation", when the Statue of Liberty is inserted onto the Moon to place Hadley Rille into scale. |
spaceman
Member Posts: 1123
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002
|
posted 04-18-2008 12:23 PM
Great idea. Now to transpose that onto a map of the moon. Have they done the same thing for the LRV missions? I know they would obviously go off that area but it would be interesting to see just how far, in which directions and avoiding/exploring which lunar features.Thanks,
Nick
Spaceman. On edit: I followed the link and found this one to Google Moon. What a fantastic site, am I the last to find it? |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 04-18-2008 05:57 PM
What I personally find more fascinating than a scale comparison to a baseball (or football) field is a scale comparison of the EVA map to the size of the Saturn V, the rocket that got them there.If you measure the distance between the two farthest points visited during the EVA (the area near the TV camera to Neil's East Crater Pan), that distance is approximately 270 feet (or 230 feet if you measure from the football field map). Compare that to the length of the Saturn V, which was 363 feet. For me, that is a much more impressive comparison...not only showing how limited the EVA was in distance traveled from the LM, but also just how massive the Saturn V was. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-18-2008 06:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
...a scale comparison of the EVA map to the size of the Saturn V, the rocket that got them there.
While certainly an interesting idea, I think the general public would have just as difficult a time imagining the scale of the Saturn V (assuming they have never seen one in-person) to the span of Tranquility Base. Of course, just such a comparison would be perfect for any of the three exhibits dedicated to the remaining rockets... |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 04-18-2008 06:36 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I think the general public would have just as difficult a time imagining the scale of the Saturn V
I said the comparison was more interesting to me, personally speaking. Overall, I have trouble thinking that many people among the general public really care what distance Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. These days, it's hard enough to convince people that we even went to the moon at all. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1624
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
|
posted 04-18-2008 08:28 PM
I really believe there should have been a second EVA on Apollo 11. |
capoetc
Member Posts: 2178
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
|
posted 04-19-2008 07:21 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
I really believe there should have been a second EVA on Apollo 11.
Why is that [just curious -- I'm not throwing moon rocks at you  ]? The whole purpose on 11 was just to land, get out, grab some rocks, plant a flag, and get home in one piece. ------------------
John Capobianco
Camden DE |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1624
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
|
posted 04-19-2008 09:27 AM
I just feel that another EVA would have added to the exploration and experience. Both men said they felt time flew by. There wasn't a reason not to---like someone else said, they travelled all that distance...why not? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 04-19-2008 09:37 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
There wasn't a reason not to ...why not?
The goal of Apollo 11 was to fulfill Kennedy's challenge: land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth. Thus, had you doubled the EVAs, you'd also double the risk... |
Choose2Go
Member Posts: 73
From: Merritt Island, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2004
|
posted 04-20-2008 04:52 AM
quote:
Originally posted by mjanovec:
What I personally find more fascinating than a scale comparison to a baseball (or football) field is a scale comparison of the EVA map to the size of the Saturn V, the rocket that got them there.
This post got me thinking about the possibility of painting on the floor under the Saturn V (at KSC or Huntsville) the traverse map of Apollo 11. Each LM footpad would be indicated with boot prints scattered in the appropriate areas and singly steeping out for the long walks, possibly even in a kangaroo hop pattern. I just relish any way of physically making it real to the visiting guests what was accomplished on these missions. |
Mr Meek
Member Posts: 353
From: Chattanooga, TN
Registered: Dec 2007
|
posted 04-20-2008 07:40 AM
Currently, the Saturn V in Huntsville has a stripe on the ground under the rocket, serving as a sort of 'yellow brick road' for visitors to walk from under the first stage through to the 'Moon' under the CM.You can sort of see it here. (Thanks to Jim for hosting it at the Field Guide.) I agree, it would be a cool display, but I don't know if there's enough lateral room under the rocket for the map. Especially accounting for the other displays that the USSRC is wanting to put along the walls of the Davidson Center. |
compass
Member Posts: 42
From: uk
Registered: May 2007
|
posted 04-20-2008 10:48 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Fra Mauro:
I really believe there should have been a second EVA on Apollo 11.
As little as 3-5 years before the landing some of the plans amounted to simply accomplishing 'a landing' and only one crew member doing an EVA, retrieving some rocks and returning to the LM. The development expectations of the PLSS in the mid 60's were such that it was even considered a possibility of conducting an EVA with umbilicals serviced by the LM- range 50' or so. The advancement in PLSS technology and the plans for an ALSEP on Apollo 11 contributed to what was actually achieved, i.e. both crew members on EVA. Given the unknowns at the time and the small incremental steps NASA took progressing each mission based on what had been achieved and learned each time on the previous mission, what was actually accomplished at Tranquility base was fairly adventurous at that time. |
Foxtrottoscar
New Member Posts: 8
From: Hamburg
Registered: Dec 2004
|
posted 08-27-2008 09:47 AM
Enjoy: Strange map of apollo 11 moonwalkEditor's note: threads merged |
RISPACE
Member Posts: 67
From: Warwick, RI USA
Registered: Jan 2006
|
posted 08-27-2008 09:48 AM
Nice link. Makes you wonder if they had more time, would Neil and Buzz ventured out a little more beyond the LM? |
saturn1b
Member Posts: 159
From: Westcliffe, CO
Registered: Jun 2006
|
posted 08-27-2008 01:23 PM
This same map is also featured in the September issue of Air & Space Smithsonian along with a 4 page article titled "Finding Apollo", what the moonwalkers left behind. Pretty interesting piece on the fate of the items left on the moon.------------------
http://spacemuseum.skymtn.com/ |
advertisement