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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  • 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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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Friday, June 27, 2014

Many Lunar Visuals as caught as uploaded to YouTube'

I can't show you the Apollo tapes and DVDs I have, but maybe these YouTube uploads will be inspirational.

If we really want to go back, and inspire and the students now in the pipeline, we will have to find reasons to excite the general public.
It takes money, if not government then maybe crowd sourcing.

We have enough billionaires that know how to make money.  Just need to show them how they could make money developing the lunar resources.
Maybe then we could look in on what was happening and go there in Virtual Reality.  

Take your tablet and play the Augmented Reality app and view a map of the Moon and see what is happening right there in your living room. (PS: tell JPL I want more Android apps, don't be just iPad centric)  All missions should have educational money allocated to make apps just like we had $50K on the Lunar Prospector mission for a web site that folks could view real time data streaming.

Length 9 min:20 sec
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Living on the Moon Clip 1

Uploaded on Nov 11, 2010
Clip 1 from an episode entitled 'Living on the Moon' broadcasted July 09 on the National Geographic channel.
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Length 8 min:20 sec
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13XjkiASPxs
Living on the Moon Clip 2

Uploaded on Nov 12, 2010
Clip 2 from an episode entitled 'Living on the Moon' broadcasted July 09 on the National Geographic channel.
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Length 9 min:2 sec
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Living on the Moon Clip 3

Uploaded on Nov 12, 2010
Clip 3 from an episode entitled 'Living on the Moon' broadcasted July 09 on the National Geographic channel.
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Length 4 min:18 sec
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Building a Moon Base From Lunar Materials 1986 NASA
Published on Nov 12, 2012
more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/astro/nasa_news.html

"This video looks at the testing of lunar materials as a possible building material for lunar bases."

Public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization).

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

The colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities or robot industries on the Moon...

Permanent human habitation on a planetary body other than the Earth is one of science fiction's most prevalent themes. As technology has advanced, and concerns about the future of humanity on Earth have increased, the argument that space colonization is an achievable and worthwhile goal has gained momentum. Because of its proximity to Earth, the Moon has been seen as the most obvious natural expansion after Earth...

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

Moon rock describes rock that formed on the Earth's moon. The term is also loosely applied to other lunar materials collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon...

There are currently three sources of Moon rocks on Earth: 1) those collected by US Apollo missions; 2) samples returned by the Soviet Union Luna missions; and 3) rocks that were ejected naturally from the lunar surface by cratering events and subsequently fell to Earth as lunar meteorites. During the six Apollo surface excursions, 2,415 samples weighing 382 kg (842 lb) were collected, the majority by Apollo 15, 16, and 17. The three Luna spacecraft returned with an additional 0.32 kg (0.7 lb) of samples. Since 1980, over 120 lunar meteorites representing about 60 different meteorite fall events (none witnessed) have been collected on Earth, with a total mass of over 48 kg (105.8 lb). About one third of these were discovered by US and Japanese teams searching for Antarctic meteorites (e.g., ANSMET), with most of the remainder having been discovered by collectors in the desert regions of northern Africa and Oman.

Almost all lunar rocks are depleted in volatiles and are completely lacking in hydrated minerals common in Earth rocks. In some regards, lunar rocks are closely related to Earth's rocks in their isotopic composition of the element oxygen... In contrast to the Earth, large portions of the lunar crust appear to be composed of rocks with high concentrations of the mineral anorthite. The mare basalts have relatively high iron values. Furthermore, some of the mare basalts have very high levels of titanium (in the form of ilmenite)...

The main repository for the Apollo moon rocks is the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. For safe keeping, there is also a smaller collection stored at White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Most of the rocks are stored in nitrogen to keep them free of moisture. They are only handled indirectly, using special tools...

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

A Lunar regolith simulant is a terrestrial material synthesized in order to approximate the chemical, mechanical, and engineering properties of, and the mineralogy and particle size distributions of, lunar regolith. Lunar regolith simulants are used by researchers...

MLS-1

MLS-1 (Minnesota Lunar Simulant 1) is a lunar simulant that was developed at the University of Minnesota. The basaltic rock used in this simulant was mined from a quarry in Duluth, Minnesota. It contains plagioclase, olivine, pyroxene and ilmenite as some of its major minerals. The minerals and grain sizes resemble the chemistry of the Apollo 11 mare material (specifically soil sample 10084).

JSC-1

JSC-1 (Johnson Space Center Number One)... was developed in 1994... Unlike MLS-1, it simulates a soil that is poor in titanium. It is a basaltic ash with a high glass content.

Toutanji et al. used JSC-1 to create a sulphur-based Lunarcrete simulant.
JSC-1A

In 2005, NASA contracted with Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC) for a second batch of simulant in three grades:

- JSC-1AF, fine, 27 µm average size
- JSC-1A, a reproduction of JSC 1, less than 1 mm size
- JSC-1AC, coarse, a distribution of sizes less than 5 mm

NASA received 14 metric tons of JSC-1A, and one ton each of AF and AC in 2006. Another 15 tons of JSC-1A and 100 kg of JSC-1F were produced by ORBITEC for commercial sale. An 8 ton sand box of commercial JSC‐1A is available for daily rental from the California Space Authority...

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Science & Technology

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Length 2 min:30 sec
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Moon Soon? Russia plans manned Lunar base in 10 years
Published on Apr 12, 2012
Russian space scientists are preparing the next 'giant leap for mankind' with the ambitious goal of gaining a foothold on the Moon within 10 years. The announcement of the daring project coincides with the 51st anniversary of the very first manned space flight.

RT on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RT_com
RT on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
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It would seem 2014 is not the same as 2012, but we can dream.
- LRK -

Length 44 min:18 sec
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National Geographic Living on the Moon - 2012 Documentary
Published on Sep 11, 2012
National Geographic Living on the Moon: The day before the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, NGC presents Living on the Moon. Man has always dreamed of living on the moon, and now a team of NASA scientists is proving that dream could be achieved in our lifetime. We take viewers inside Constellation, the space program's plan to establish a human outpost on the moon by 2020. Take a closer look at the plans under way, from upgraded space suits to housing modules and moon vehicles, and examine the challenges ahead, such as finding water, making oxygen, growing food and protecting residents from deadly radiation. Then, using 3-D animation, we'll visualize how the remarkable outpost will take shape.

Released: June 19, 2012
Genres: Documentary
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This much longer.
- LRK -

Length: 1 hr: 39 min:54 sec
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In the Shadow of the Moon - Documentary
Published on Sep 1, 2012
Documentary About Moonlandings.
If you liked this. You can also watch ;/watch?v=H_T3WCe6KU0

In the Shadow of the Moon is a 2006 British documentary film about the United States' manned missions to the Moon.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
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Thursday, June 26, 2014

Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century - & - The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of

Of late my posts to the lunar-update list have been rather spotty. I might blame distractions on this side from a hand that stings but I also have concerns about the direction of our space activities, like lack of funding or reasons for venturing off world.  Maybe I have lost some of the wonder of a 12 year old reading comic books and watching Buck Rogers.

I suppose one can become too concerned about the why and just report on what is actually happening, but let me bend your ear a bit.  

The first chapter, THE RIGHT TO LIE is found at The New York Times books section. Just a snip:
 "America is a nation of liars, and for that reason science fiction has a special claim to be our national literature, as the art form best adapted to telling the lies we like to hear and to pretend we believe.
    It has been said of Cretans that they were all liars, and we can assume, from its proscription in the Decalogue, that lying was not unknown in Mosaic times. What distinguishes American liars from those of earlier times and other nations is that the perfected American liar does not feel himself to be disgraced by his lies, even when he is caught in them. Indeed, the bolder the lie and the more brazenly imposed on the public, the more admiration the liar is accorded."
As you see, Disch makes the assertion that America is a "nation of liars." He goes through the history of Science Fiction and shows how the writings have targeted young boys who are willing to accept the portrayal of interplanetary war, drugs, and women as something that is OK to dream about. 

In fairness you may also want to look at a rebuttal to his book, but you would really need to have read the book to fully appreciate. "A Plague on All Your Houses"

When you look back at the 50's, 60's, and 70's you can see that the science fiction followed a lot of what was happening then.  Now this 12 year old is an adult and who is to say what I dreamed about, good or bad, is what I should be working on today. Have I been wired by my young dreams that might need revisiting? What is an acceptable way to let actions unfold? Have I considered what to do. and its effects, as well as what I don't have time to do, that limits what I could have been done?

A lot of what was foretold is now real life. Doors do open automatically when you approach.  No stage hand has to pull at the right time for Kirk to walk through a door on the EnterpriseStar Trek Rarities

Amazon.com would like to fly a quadcopter to your door step to deliver packages, but so far the FAA has denied permissionDeutsche Post (DHL) in Germany is experimenting with a ‘Paketkopter’ drone to deliver small loads like emergency medicine needs.

That is not quite the image of cars zooming at different levels as in the movies. 
The 10 Most Badass Fictional Flying Cars of Sci-Fi
It does seem that the FAA is concerned with how you will keep track of low flying robot copters. Not for profit now.

Also, our war machines have continued to evolve to the point you can use unpiloted airplanes, drones or Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to take out the enemy in a land far, far away while sitting in a air conditioned cubicle in Nevada. Maybe it was an alien that has just landed or maybe it is someone that doesn't agree with the lie you were brought up with. 

If you are still with me, take a look at what Steve Grand wrote and take time to view the YouTube video that is suggested.  It is causing me to look out and down as well as to look up.

Back in July of 2010, Steve in his blog wrote, "Is the human brain still in beta?" (Or is it society that’s not yet fully debugged?)  Steve has been working on a program dealing with "Artificial Life."  
He starts of with, "I’m supposed to be working hard at the moment, which is, of course, why I’m spending far too much time on Facebook. Anyway, yesterday and today a series of disparate Facebook threads seemed to come together as if to raise a single question, so I thought I’d ask for opinions."  This follows with a number of examples of how people seem to be making questionable decisions that to them, seem to be alright, just because they have been deluded into accepting their decisions without really evaluating what the results may bring forth.

At the end of his blog there are some 59 comments one is from Bob Mottram who proposes that Steve might like to see if he hasn't already.  I would like to pass that link as it seems to be even more relevant today than 2009, with the number of military drones being flown and for what reason.
- LRK -

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Bob Mottram says:
Also on the topic of robotics and its military connections, if you havn’t seen it before I’d recommend this video on ethics in robotics:
Illah Nourbakhsh Lecture: Ethics in Robotics
Uploaded on Feb 13, 2009
Are there types of robots that shouldn't be created? Should we use robots in military combat? Or is there actually nothing to worry about? Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute professor Illah Nourbakhsh addresses issues raised by recent book Wired for War by P.W. Singer and gives his personal take on ethics and robotics.
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Related to the above would be a link from the end of Steve's post. 

His comment, "Let me finish with one last Facebook post. This one was a link to a robotics project that is clearly funded by, and heavily tailored towards, the Military. The research team is developing robot helicopters that can fly through windows and latch onto a target. It doesn’t take much imagination to see what military applications this might have, and those applications are potentially very destabilizing, because they provide the opportunity to blow people up at zero risk to the person who chooses to do it. Warfare evolved under fairer circumstances than these and we really don’t know what will happen when wars can be fought from an armchair."
- LRK -

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Autonomous quadrocopter flies through windows, straight into our hearts (video)BY VLAD SAVOV  4 YEARS AGO

We don't know whether we should be terrified or overjoyed. We've just come across a video demo from the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab that shows an autonomousquadrotor helicopter performing "precise aggressive maneuvers." And trust us when we say, nothing in the foregoing sentence is an overstatement -- the thing moves with the speed and grace of an angry bee, while accompanied by the perfectly menacing whine of its little engine. See this work of scientific art in motion after the break.
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And from the author of the book, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, this talk, 
- LRK -

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Robots and War: Everything You Were Afraid to Ask..Afraid to

Uploaded on Mar 2, 2009
P. W. Singer, a Senior Fellow and Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, and author...

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I watched Star Trek (1966–1969) while I watched Apollo 11: Launch July 16, 1969 (turn up the volume and run through some power amps to shake the walls) and Apollo11: Lunar Landing July 20, 1969 and didn't think anything about the cardboard sets for Star Trek, but then I think I was still in the child like, 12 year old mold. We could go to the Moon, we could go anywhere.  I had watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and read the book a number of times. My brother told me about the music and I told him about the science. And then in 1984 - 2010: The Year We Make Contact  
- LRK -

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Uploaded on Mar 26, 2009
Original 1984 motion picture trailer.
"ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
USE THEM TOGETHER
USE THEM IN PEACE"
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Today I look at things a bit different.  I don't see us lifting my city of Tracy, with a population estimated 84,691, to some orbital city in orbit or floating through space but there have been a number of science fiction novels with this theme and we hold design contests at NASA Ames for students around the world. (see I need to update my old web site.) If not an actual space city then maybe the development of the Moon to support such ideas in the event it really becomes necessary to send some of our seed off world.  I am not the only one who has talked about setting up shop on the Moon. 

Is that something that should really be done?  Have we looked at the benefits and what doesn't get done if we spend our time, energy, obsession, and resources to accomplish?  Life in a spacesuit doesn't sound like a fun way to take a drive on the Moon.

Since I have been presenting a number of items that may make us think about reasons for going to space or not, let me leave you with Hamish LIndsy's web site and his information on Apollo 17.
- LRK -

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Apollo 17

7–20 December 1972

by Hamish Lindsay
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There is good reason to keep us up to date on what is happening that is space related and I will see if I can't do a better job of that.
At the same time I think I shall also take a closer look at why we are flying above the ground even if it is within our atmosphere.
It may lead us to better understand why we will or will not spend time and money to send humans to space.
And by 'we' I mean the US taxpayer.  I don't think I will be going to space.  Will you be going to space? 
Will you sponsor someone for a space trip? (crowd source for a small bit of memorabilia)
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ISEE-3 Reboot Project by Space College, Skycorp, and SpaceRef
06/26/14: Just as our DSN window closed today we were able to get 2 way Doppler lock and ranging at 47.5 kHz offset.  DSN got the four ranging points needed from ISEE-3. This is the first time since 1999 that DSN has talked to the spacecraft. Follow up session tomorrow should get us a lot more recording time.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
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