Monday, June 30, 2014

Apollo To The Moon - Videos and Thoughts

If you date back to the Apollo missions then you have probably seen most of these videos or even experienced some of the action.  I am sorry to say I have never been to a rocket launch then or now, but I like to turn up the sound and try and feel those pressure waves pulsing within my gut.

We are approaching the Apollo 11 launch anniversary of July 16, 1969. I was stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in the Naval Air Reserve at the time and watched on a black and white TV.  A lot of work had gone into making the launch possible and we had blown up a number of rockets when we first started trying to launch something into Earth orbit.  When Russia launchedSputnik in October 4, 1957 it started a space race between the U.S.-U.S.S.R .

By the time Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 had landed on the Moon it was Ho-Hum.  Then Apollo 13 was much like an Indy car race, in that there was and explosion and a possibility of the astronauts not completing the mission.  Explosion in space, what to do, what to do?  Oh, they made it back OK.  Then What? 

More science would be done with the follow on missions, but already the number of missions had been cut.  How to build a space station? Make friends with the Russians, use a Saturn rocket to meet up with the Russians for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project and practice docking in Earth orbit.

NASA has plenty of hard/electronic copy of our space history and the Apollo missions.  We have passed some of these before over the years, but Apollo anniversaries are a good opportunity to rethink about what we want to see happen in space.  If you have the time and inclination to watch some of the YouTube videos you may well notice that the best laid plans for going back to the Moon have not yet happened.
http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html
NASA History Series Publications

NASA Links about Apollo

And if your COMCAST dynamic IP address changes several times a day right in the middle of your viewing, well you can always buy a DVD from Spacecraft Films. :-)
- LRK -

How to get to the Moon - what kind of orbit?
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Length 54 min: 15 sec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awVOWTBn9uE
NASA DOCO - To The Moon - Pt1 - Awesome! - National Geographic Channel   54:15

Published on Mar 1, 2012

Doco from Project Mercury to Apollo. The Space Race. Sensational Viewing. 

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    Standard YouTube License
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  • Length 49 min: 30 sec
NASA DOCO - To The Moon - Pt2 - Awesome!
Published on Mar 2, 2012
Doco from Project Mercury to Apollo. The Space Race. Sensational Viewing.
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More on what you need to do to prepare for going to the Moon
- LRK -

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Length 1 hr: 00 min: 07 sec
Apollo History and Legacy Panel 07-16-09

Uploaded on Jul 17, 2009
No description available.
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Here on-line "Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft" if you would like to read.
Cover with link to Table of Contents. http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4205/cover.html
- LRK -

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Length 1 hr: 27 min: 09 sec
Armstrong Hosts NASA 50th Anniversary Documentary

Published on Aug 25, 2012
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 Commander and first person to walk on the moon, guides us through the history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the half-century since its establishment in 1958. Produced by NASA TV, 2008.
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Another book that you can read as a PDF and or down load.
This is color.
WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE
A HISTORY OF APOLLO LUNAR EXPLORATION MISSIONS

This a scan in black and white at LPI from NASA Technical Reports Server.

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Let me leave you with the Magnificent Desolation Walking on the Moon link again.
If you watched already, excuse the over kill, if not enjoy.
- LRK -
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Length 40 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUaDJbWIVr4
Magnificent Desolation Walking on the Moon 3D Full Movie
Published on Jan 26, 2014
Magnificent Desolation Walking on the Moon 3d

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I think I will put my 12 year old dreamer attitude back in play, even if I have to believe some of the lies that are being told.
You probably noticed that not all that what we said we were going to do has come into play.

You may want to help me figure out how to tell my own lies.
My granddaughter is 7 and since I have used my smart phone to find answers to her questions, when I don't know an answer she now just tells me to "ASK YOUR PHONE".  Maybe the next astronauts won't use a flip-book on their wrists.
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As one of the many pranks pulled during the friendly rivalry between the all-Navy prime crew and the all-Air Force backup crew, the Apollo 12 backup crew managed to insert into the astronauts' lunar checklist (attached to the wrists of Conrad's and Bean's space suits) reduced-sized pictures of Playboy Playmates, surprising Conrad and Bean when they looked through the checklist flip-book during their first EVA. The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal website contains a PDF file with the photocopies of their cuff checklists showing these photos.[17] Appearing in Conrad's checklist were Angela Dorian, Miss September 1967 (with the caption "SEEN ANY INTERESTING HILLS & VALLEYS ?") and Reagan Wilson, Miss October 1967 ("PREFERRED TETHER PARTNER," referring to a special procedure that would require the sharing of life support resources). The photos in Bean's cuff checklist were of Cynthia Myers, Miss December 1968 ("DON'T FORGET - DESCRIBE THE PROTUBERANCES") and Leslie Bianchini, Miss January 1969 ("SURVEY - HER ACTIVITY," in pun of Surveyor).[18][19] 
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Samsung flexible phone prototype unveiled in CES 2014 + Samsung galaxy S6 or Note IV prediction ?

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
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  • Length 1 hr: 27 min: 32 sec
When We Left Earth - The NASA Missions
Published on Jul 1, 2013

The story of how the space missions evolved from the X-15 fighter jet in 1959 to get people into space is explained. The programs began with the Mercury missions: 7 men were selected to carry the first astronaut into space "on top of a rocket capsule". There was a rush because of competition with Russia: initially not much was known (a) whether the rockets would work, and (b) whether man could survive in space. At the beginning an ape called "Ham" was the first animal that flew. Eventually Alan Shepard was selected, BUT it is learned that the Soviet Union had been the first nation to put a man in space: Yuri Gagarin.Published on Jul 1, 2013

The story of how the space missions evolved from the X-15 fighter jet in 1959 to get people into space is explained. The programs began with the Mercury missions: 7 men were selected to carry the first astronaut into space "on top of a rocket capsule". There was a rush because of competition with Russia: initially not much was known (a) whether the rockets would work, and (b) whether man could survive in space. At the beginning an ape called "Ham" was the first animal that flew. Eventually Alan Shepard was selected, BUT it is learned that the Soviet Union had been the first nation to put a man in space: Yuri Gagarin.
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  • Category

  • License

    Standard YouTube License
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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