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General Discussion => Q&A Section => Topic started by: Phillip Clark on 02/16/2018 08:09 am

Title: Landings on other worlds Q&A
Post by: Phillip Clark on 02/16/2018 08:09 am

I have previously said that the landing of China's Chang'E 3 on the Moon was the first time that "live" pictures of the descent and survivavle landing on another world were broadcast on television live.   I know, I was watching CCTV when it happened and from the point of "pitchover" the pictures were being broadcast live.

But is this true?

I have said "survivable" landing, so this rules out the live broadcast of the Ranger 9 pictures as that spacecraft headed towards a crash landing on the Moon in 1965.   The corresponding pictures from Rangers 7 and 8 were released after the event and as I recall only the Ranger 9 landing was broadcast "live" on US TV.

Of course, we have footage from inside the lunar modules from the Apollo lunar landings, but only the audio was broadcast live: the film of the landing had to be brought back to Earth.

The only other contender for the "live" broadcast are the images returned by the European Huygens as it was descending towards its landing on Titan.   I was at work at the time so i don't know of the now-famous images were broadcast to the world "live" or not.   Can anyone clarify this please?

In the meantime, it looks as if the first "live" footage of a descent of a spacecraft through to soft-landing on another world was that broadcast of Chang'E 3.

Title: Re: Landings on other worlds Q&A
Post by: GClark on 02/16/2018 05:45 pm

ISTR some pictures broadcast as they came in from the Viking landers.

Time has not been kind to my memory...

Title: Re: Landings on other worlds Q&A
Post by: Phillip Clark on 02/16/2018 06:00 pm

Quote from: GClark on 02/16/2018 05:45 pm

ISTR some pictures broadcast as they came in from the Viking landers.
Time has not been kind to my memory...

Like the Surveyors - especially #1 - the pictures were post-landing, although they were released immediately.   But I am thinking of live pictures coming back during the descent to the surface.

Title: Re: Landings on other worlds Q&A
Post by: whitelancer64 on 02/16/2018 06:00 pm

IIRC, some news stations carried the Mars rover landings live.

*edit to add* Indeed. In Times Square, even.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/48428167/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/nasa-broadcast-mars-rover-landing-live-times-square/

Title: Re: Landings on other worlds Q&A
Post by: Hog on 02/16/2018 07:52 pm

As I watched STS-1 Columbia land at Edwards AFB back in '81, it appeared "other worldly".

Title: Re: Landings on other worlds Q&A
Post by: Phillip Clark on 02/16/2018 10:19 pm

Quote from: whitelancer64 on 02/16/2018 06:00 pm

IIRC, some news stations carried the Mars rover landings live.
*edit to add* Indeed. In Times Square, even.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/48428167/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/nasa-broadcast-mars-rover-landing-live-times-square/

The important point that I am trying to establish is whether any of these other landings were returning images of the descent which were broadcast "live" on television.   I cannot remember any such images from any of the Mars descents.

I am thinking of images like these which from the time of "pitch-over" (using Apollo terminology) were broadcast "live" by Chinese television and on the internet (which I was watching) of the Chang'E 3 descent and landing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNAGFTRvgDY&t=232s