The Wikipedia article on Apollo 8 mentions that the SPS engine needed 'coating' (edit: with a short burn) or it could explode in a long burn. Is that right? I don't recall reading that anywhere else and variants of that engine (which may differ a lot, I've no idea) are used on various rockets and spacecraft.
Quote from: C5C6 on 07/20/2009 11:39 pmI would like to know about the micrometeoroid impact probability and the dangerous physical phenomenons the astronauts where exposed to (cosmic rays, radiation, etc). Lots of people argue that we never went to the moon because of these things... I have no doubt we went to the moon, but would really like to know more about this since I know nothing...The quick and dirty summary:Van Allen belts - occurred soon after TLI and soon before entry, so velocity was still relatively high (passed through belts quickly); during outbound leg crew was confined to the (relatively) better shielded CM to minimize exposure.Solar flares - just plain lucky that one didn't occur during an Apollo mission. There was one observed flare (between 16 and 17, I believe) that would likely have killed a crew had there been one up at the time.Cosmic rays - crew undoubtedly took doses; effects minimized due to short missions.Micrometeoroids - odds of impact very low over mission duration.Bottom line is that future missions will still need to get crews through the Van Allen belts quickly (rules out low-thrust propulsion for crew) and will need better shielding for long-duration surface stays.
I would like to know about the micrometeoroid impact probability and the dangerous physical phenomenons the astronauts where exposed to (cosmic rays, radiation, etc). Lots of people argue that we never went to the moon because of these things... I have no doubt we went to the moon, but would really like to know more about this since I know nothing...
I found it interesting when I discovered a while back that this cover was left installed throughout the trip to the pad. What was the reason for this?I suppose it was removed after the MMS was in place?
I had to get rid of the OP of the Moon Landing thread as he was given a chance, but his second post made me totally suspect he was a hoaxer. Not having any of those types on here. Saved the responses, removed quotes of his posts and merged them into here