China, shooting for the moon
Discussion
Seeker UK said:
No but you can see the evidende of them being there:
http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_...
Those photos were taken by 'Apollo astronauts' - ie not taken from Earth, but probably on the way back to the the Command Module.http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_...
Simpo Two said:
Seeker UK said:
No but you can see the evidende of them being there:
http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_...
Those photos were taken by 'Apollo astronauts' - ie not taken from Earth, but probably on the way back to the the Command Module.http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_...
PW said:
Eric Mc said:
Not likely since it can't take traditional pictures.
Yes it can. It's the secondary mission.https://moonkam.ucsd.edu/
Simpo Two said:
Those photos were taken by 'Apollo astronauts' - ie not taken from Earth, but probably on the way back to the the Command Module.
Exactly.The artefacts left by men on the moon are easily visible from 60 miles above the lunar surface. They are not visible AT ALL from 250.000.
Eric Mc said:
JohneeBoy said:
It's a shame the yanks, Chinese, the Russians and us Europeans can't get together for a joint push for Mars. We might launch within a decade if that were the case.
Rivalry and competition is a far more effective driver than co-operation.Apache said:
When it's affordable yes, but I agree with JB that a combined effort would be a great challenge and, as seen with the Eurofighter, probably the only option available now
Times come and go. Rivalries come and go. We've had 40 years of space co-operation and, as far as manned spaceflight is concerned, we are still stuck in low earth orbit. Without some sort of incentive - and fear is often the most effective incentiviser - that's where we will remain.Eric Mc said:
Ion drive is the future.
If I understand the science correctly, you get a minute fraction of a G of force for a fairly hefty power input, and (helpfully in this situation) it only works in space (where no other ionised particles exist). The input could be achieved from a nuclear power station I suppose but this all means you will end up with space-craft far bigger than we have now, and will require assembly in space where the effects of gravity can be minimised. And then, because you've got a MAHOOSIVE ship with a low-force output, you're really only targetting reeeeeeeeeally long distances where you can continue to accelerate at 1/1000th of a G for years at a time. The culmination will be massive speeds at the mid-point, no doubt but you're in for a generation or more.I like this idea though - sort of "Slient Running". Ship would have to be big enough to offer some diversity and would have to spin to give gravity. ACC's "2061" has the ship (Galaxy) accelerating a near 1G IIRC which is enough for normal "life" aboard. But that used muon-catalysed fusion to bring the reaction down to room-temp, something currently not possible.
I don't believe ion drive will be suitable for solar-system travel but once we start reaching further, it might be the only option. I love the time I live in, but I'd love to glimpse the massive ships we (humans) will end up building for this type of epic journey.
Simpo Two said:
tank slapper said:
The engineering has moved on massively, to such an extent that to simply rebuild a Saturn V would be very difficult. Materials science, understanding of aerodynamics, computing and therefore the capacity for analysis have all advanced greatly.
It seems odd to my simple brain that because technology has 'advanced massively' we can no longer do things...Happy to be proved wrong of course
It doesn't matter how talented your engineers are, if the project is badly managed then it will have problems. The shuttle is a very good example of it - it worked despite the limitations its design specification imposed, but the effort to get it to do so was enormous. Even then, they still lost two of them to problems that had already been identified.
Watchman said:
Eric Mc said:
Ion drive is the future.
If I understand the science correctly, you get a minute fraction of a G of force for a fairly hefty power input, and (helpfully in this situation) it only works in space (where no other ionised particles exist). The input could be achieved from a nuclear power station I suppose but this all means you will end up with space-craft far bigger than we have now, and will require assembly in space where the effects of gravity can be minimised. And then, because you've got a MAHOOSIVE ship with a low-force output, you're really only targetting reeeeeeeeeally long distances where you can continue to accelerate at 1/1000th of a G for years at a time. The culmination will be massive speeds at the mid-point, no doubt but you're in for a generation or more.I like this idea though - sort of "Slient Running". Ship would have to be big enough to offer some diversity and would have to spin to give gravity. ACC's "2061" has the ship (Galaxy) accelerating a near 1G IIRC which is enough for normal "life" aboard. But that used muon-catalysed fusion to bring the reaction down to room-temp, something currently not possible.
I don't believe ion drive will be suitable for solar-system travel but once we start reaching further, it might be the only option. I love the time I live in, but I'd love to glimpse the massive ships we (humans) will end up building for this type of epic journey.
Probably won't even need our bodies.
Simpo Two said:
Those photos were taken by 'Apollo astronauts' - ie not taken from Earth, but probably on the way back to the the Command Module.
Sorry, wrong pic - posted before reading.The images I meant to show are the ones from the LRO from 2009
http://www.universetoday.com/35083/lro-images-apol...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_...
Seeker UK said:
Simpo Two said:
Those photos were taken by 'Apollo astronauts' - ie not taken from Earth, but probably on the way back to the the Command Module.
Sorry, wrong pic - posted before reading.The images I meant to show are the ones from the LRO from 2009
http://www.universetoday.com/35083/lro-images-apol...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_...
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