Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

Palomar · 2004-03-19 13:16:57

*I hope I set this up right. :-\ I've never created a poll before.

A friend here at New Mars and I have discussed what it would have been like to be an Apollo astronaut, experiencing the 3 options above. I think blast off would be most exciting, and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere the most frightening: Come in too steep and you burn up; come in too narrowly and you bounce off and drift back into space...and also the re-entry corridor is comparable to a piece of paper held EDGEWISE to a basketball (yipes! not a lot of room for error there!). Splashdown had its own perils too, of course: Will the parachute open? Will we hit the water too fast anyway? Wow, it takes guts...

So, I'm curious. Which aspect of an Apollo journey would be the biggest thrill for you?

--Cindy

clark · 2004-03-19 13:22:14

zero-g.

Byron · 2004-03-19 13:32:00

So, I'm curious. Which aspect of an Apollo journey would be the biggest thrill for you?
--Cindy

I think the high-gee ride up would be the funest, followed by free fall. Yeah, coming back in is the scariest part, especially since you're out of communication range, etc.

But sign me up anytime...I'd do it in a heartbeat

B

Rxke · 2004-03-19 13:52:09

Errr... Stepping off that flimsy ladder, taking one small step...

Byron · 2004-03-20 06:38:15

While we're on the subject of exciting Apollo adventures...I've been thinking about what it must have been like for Neil Armstrong as he looked for a place to put the Eagle down, while precious fuel was being rapidly depleted to almost nothing. Just imagine for a second, you're in a tiny lander, with just a few seconds' worth of fuel to play with, and you're coming down on top of a boulder field on an another world...and you have to set this thing down *now.*

Now, *that's* exciting...hehe. Can you imagine the sheer relief of being able to speak the words "the Eagle has landed" after going through such a harrowing landing proceedure?? I tell you what...that Neil Armstrong was one damn fine pilot....

B

Palomar · 2004-03-20 07:11:35

While we're on the subject of exciting Apollo adventures...I've been thinking about what it must have been like for Neil Armstrong as he looked for a place to put the Eagle down, while precious fuel was being rapidly depleted to almost nothing. Just imagine for a second, you're in a tiny lander, with just a few seconds' worth of fuel to play with, and you're coming down on top of a boulder field on an another world...and you have to set this thing down *now.*
Now, *that's* exciting...hehe. Can you imagine the sheer relief of being able to speak the words "the Eagle has landed" after going through such a harrowing landing proceedure?? I tell you what...that Neil Armstrong was one damn fine pilot....
B

*Wow, that is for sure.

I've often wondered what sleeping on the Moon was like for them. And if they dreamed, and if so were the dream qualities different.

But yes -- Armstrong made the guys in Mission Control hold their collective breaths for a few minutes; one of the remarked on that specifically. How exciting

--Cindy

::EDIT:: Also, check out pics of capsules after re-entry; bobbing up and down on the water (likely SHARK-infested water), completely singed from the fiery re-entry (despite the heat shield)...geez!

Mad Grad Student · 2004-03-20 17:18:38

zero-g.

Yeah, I'd have to agree. Unless, of course, it was one of the Moon landing missions and I happened to be one of the lucky 12 people who got to walk on the Moon. The feeling of opening up that door, hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth, and stepping out onto an entire other planet (For the sake of simplicity, let's just call the Moon a planet) with a crescent Earth in the distance, those guys must have felt like the luckiest people in the solar system. I can't wait to see the lunar mountains for myself, either through tourism or, more preferablly, some scientist exchange program with the ESA. Let's see, I'll be 31 in 2020, when the Aurora program is supposed to land on the Moon, a good candidate? Hey, a mad grad student can dream, can't he! :laugh:

However, zero-g would be very cool as well. It's almost a tough descision, between Skylab and Apollo. Sure, the Apollo guys got to drive around in the lunar valleys and mountains, but Skylab astronauts were able stay up to three months in that huge station, solid zero gravity! Have you seen how huge that thing was? Skylab was the closest thing to a spacebound playgroud ever launched.

Decisions, decisions. If only they weren't always hypothetical, sigh...

dicktice · 2004-03-21 12:21:46

Yes, that first-ever landing was the most adventurous thing to have happened, especially since it was totally unforseen. Armstrong was the "compleat professional" at doing what had never been done before. He prepared himself, on that extremely dangerous contraption he had to catapult from, I seem to remember, which may have been even more of a thrill for him, now that I think about it. But for me, skirting boulders while done to ziltch fuel, was the most exciting. (They would have been able to launch and save themselves, right down to going on empty, but then they wouldn't have been The First On The Moon. Was that a factor, in addition to guts? The views out the windows captured for posterity, of course, were the most important.

dicktice · 2004-03-21 12:25:44

Yes, that first-ever landing was the most adventurous thing to have happened, especially since it was totally unforseen. Armstrong was the "compleat professional" at doing what had never been done before. He prepared himself, on that extremely dangerous contraption he had to catapult from, I seem to remember, which may have been even more of a thrill for him, now that I think about it. But for me, skirting boulders while down to ziltch fuel indicated (reliably?) was the most exciting happening. They would have been able to launch and save themselves, right down to going on empty, but then they wouldn't have been The First On The Moon. Was that a factor, in addition to guts? The views out the windows captured for posterity, of course, were the most important.

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#1 2004-03-19 13:16:57

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#2 2004-03-19 13:22:14

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#3 2004-03-19 13:32:00

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#4 2004-03-19 13:52:09

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#5 2004-03-20 06:38:15

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#6 2004-03-20 07:11:35

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#7 2004-03-20 17:18:38

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#8 2004-03-21 12:21:46

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

#9 2004-03-21 12:25:44

Re: Which More Exciting? - ...(Apollo)

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