July 16, 1969

NASA audio (wav)


Quote:

T-15 seconds, guidance is internal. 12, 11, 10, 9 ... ignition sequence start ... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 ... All engines running. Liftoff! We have a liftoff ... 32 minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11. Tower clear.

http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Apollo-11-Launch.jpg

NASA: What Was the Saturn V?


Quote:

Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds)

NASA: Shuttle Basics


Quote:

Space Shuttle Liftoff Weight 4.5 million pounds (weight will vary depending on payloads and on board consumables)

Wimp.

Webb wrote on Jul 15^th, 2011 at 10:52pm:

NASA: What Was the Saturn V? Quote: Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds) NASA: Shuttle Basics [quote]Space Shuttle Liftoff Weight 4.5 million pounds (weight will vary depending on payloads and on board consumables)

Wimp.[/quote]

The difference is the Space Shuttle is mostly dead weight.  The Saturn V was all muscle.  Think of a fat kid vs. a body builder.

DaveSims wrote on Jul 16^th, 2011 at 9:13am:

The difference is the Space Shuttle is mostly dead weight.  The Saturn V was all muscle.  Think of a fat kid vs. a body builder...

...that is trying to force his head up your fat... um...
anyway, the gist being that it really can be an explosive mode of travel; it was, however, better than the old Chinese event of strapping rockets to the emperor's chair.
Personally, I've never been adverse to the course of action, the attempts in space travel. I even wrote short space travel stories from 6th grade through high school.


8-)

What a great moment in time that was.  You always remember where you were and what you were doing.  Maybe.

We were sitting for our Accounting Auditing final at the UM.  Right at the start of class, the prof turned on his radio and we all listened to the liftoff.  Incredible.

We then took the final.  Very good professor, easy class, I knew I would ace the final and did just that.

My dad actually worked for Boeing in New Orleans during the Apollo missions, building the fuel tanks for the Saturn V rockets.

July 20, 1969

"Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed."

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OORyagu8ETY/TQI-8pl2i2I/AAAAAAAADDU/jeD8q9KaGDE/s400/3c02df5812f6222cd4d52f13bbab688f.jpg

Webb wrote on Jul 20^th, 2011 at 12:20am:

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

At the times it really seemed so... but more than forty years down the line we really should correct it in: "Quite a big step for a man and a useless little hop for mankind"...

We got there, and in 71 we stopped going there because of money problems... and since then we've NEVER left the earth's orbit... giant leap for mankind my rear end. :(

Strategic Retreat wrote on Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:53am:

Webb wrote on Jul 20th, 2011 at 12:20am: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." At the times it really seemed so... but more than forty years down the line we really should correct it in: "Quite a big step for a man and a useless little hop for mankind"... We got there, and in 71 we stopped going there because of money problems... and since then we've NEVER left the earth's orbit... giant leap for mankind my rear end. :(

Funny thing is that NASA only takes up around 0.58% (2007 US Budget plan couldn't find a more recent number but it rarely fluctuates) of the federal Budget. sadly its Budget is always assaulted by those who don't actually understand its importance and want part of it Budget that can be used to the benefit of the members of their voting community.

Razgriz wrote on Jul 22^nd, 2011 at 6:58pm:

Strategic Retreat wrote on Jul 20th, 2011 at 10:53am: Webb wrote on Jul 20th, 2011 at 12:20am: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." At the times it really seemed so... but more than forty years down the line we really should correct it in: "Quite a big step for a man and a useless little hop for mankind"... We got there, and in 71 we stopped going there because of money problems... and since then we've NEVER left the earth's orbit... giant leap for mankind my rear end. :( Funny thing is that NASA only takes up around 0.58% (2007 US Budget plan couldn't find a more recent number but it rarely fluctuates) of the federal Budget. sadly its Budget is always assaulted by those who don't actually understand its importance and want part of it Budget that can be used to the benefit of the members of their voting community.

Here is the giant leap... (The spin-offs from Nasa have benefitted millions of people, of all nationalities and races.)



http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/

43 years and counting.

But we're going to Mars ...

Sure we are.

40 years after Apollo it is impossible to place a manned spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit.  You can get to the the ISS (250 miles) but that's the current limit for manned flight.  There is no way anyone is going to travel 250,000 miles, land on another celestial body, take off from the same celestial body and return to Earth - not in my lifetime.

Only two countries have the ability to place a manned spacecraft into low Earth orbit - Russia and China.

The United States does not have the ability to launch a human into space.  We couldn't even replicate Alan Shepard's 1961 suborbital flight.

... and we're going to Mars!

Neil Armstrong died today.  He was 82.

I can only imagine what the Saturn V sounded like as it lifted off... must have been an amazing sound to hear in person!

Godspeed Neil Armstrong, he will probably go down as one of the most famous people in world history.

Webb wrote on Jul 17^th, 2012 at 2:48am:

... and we're going to Mars!

...going to buy a Mars chocolate bar, you are? One for me buy it too, could you please? I, Yoda like speaking am. Stop now, I will. 8-)

Sure NOT Mars as in the celestial body, so it MUST be the chocolate bar. Give me a buzz when you're back with mine. ;D