Author
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Topic: Official time zone used for Apollo missions
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sobof62 Member Posts: 95 From: Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-14-2013 08:02 PM
When measuring time during the flights did NASA use Eastern Standard Time (EST)? e.g. Apollo 17's last EVA finished at 00.41 on the December 14 1972. Is that EST? |
randy Member Posts: 2231 From: West Jordan, Utah USA Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 09-14-2013 10:23 PM
I believe they used Central Standard Time. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-14-2013 10:31 PM
Today, mission events are recorded based on the location of Mission Control in Houston, which is indeed Central Standard (or when appropriate, Daylight Saving) Time (CST/CDT). That said, NASA publications from the time of the Apollo 17 mission, including the Apollo 17 press kit, used Eastern Standard Time (EST). |
randy Member Posts: 2231 From: West Jordan, Utah USA Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 09-14-2013 10:40 PM
Thanks for the correction Robert. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 43576 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-14-2013 10:42 PM
And just to add to the time zone discussion, aboard the International Space Station, the crew lives by Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is roughly halfway between Houston and Moscow, the locations of the two primary Mission Control Centers for the orbiting laboratory... |
moorouge Member Posts: 2458 From: U.K. Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 09-15-2013 01:34 AM
I assume that they stick to GMT throughout the year and don't go to BST with the UK.As an 'oddball' fact, the line of zero degrees longitude passes through the Greenwich Observatory and is marked in Greenwich Park by a brass line set in the grounds. However, recently it was decided that this is in the wrong place. Thousands of people who have photos of themselves with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one in the western now have to live with the knowledge that they didn't. (ref.) |
stsmithva Member Posts: 1940 From: Fairfax, VA, USA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 09-15-2013 05:57 AM
quote: Originally posted by moorouge: However, recently it was decided that this is in the wrong place.
Noooo! Every year I teach my students about that brass strip when we study just geography for a bit before getting into history. I even show them some of those pictures. I went to the specific web page referenced above, understood the first three sentences, and then got lost in all the different reference ellipsoids. I did notice towards the end that they referred to the years about a decade ago as the "mid noughties", a term I'd always hoped would catch on.
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sobof62 Member Posts: 95 From: Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-15-2013 09:11 AM
Many thanks to all who have helped on this issue. Interesting. |
Lou Chinal Member Posts: 1332 From: Staten Island, NY Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 10-04-2013 11:44 AM
I just want to add to the confusion; At the South Pole they do go daylight saving time. Why, you ask? I don't know. |