45th Anniversary of Earthrise

OK...so I've done this bit with Orbiter about 3.5 years ago while developing the Apollo 8 Scenario Pack for AMSO.

I've also blogged on the iconic photo known as, "Earthrise", before too.  See here.

But the people at Goddard Space Center have come out with a new video based on new findings.

Besides, this Tuesday (Christmas Eve) is the 45th anniversary...



Here is the direct link to the YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/dE-vOscpiNc

More multimedia can be found on this page as well: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004129/

Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) and Mars

(Last updated 05/11/2013.  Click on image to enlarge.)

The screenshot above was generated using the freeware space simulation Orbiter.  It depicts Comet C/2013 A1, aka Siding Spring, during its closest approach to Mars on October 19, 2014.

Also used to generate the above screenshot was the Horizons Web Interface, maintained by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.  I generated the ephemeris with this web interface, and then plugged the numbers into an Orbiter scenario.

There's only an observational arc of 211 days - so there WILL be a really decent fly by - with enough refinement to the projected orbit (for now) to say it WILL NOT hit Mars.

Per SpaceObs.org:

Since C/2013 A1 is a hyperbolic comet and moves in a retrograde orbit, its velocity with respect to the planet will be very high, approximately 56 km/s. With the current estimate of the absolute magnitude of the nucleus M2 = 10.3, which might indicate the diameter from 10 to 50 km, the energy of impact might reach the equivalent of staggering 2×10¹º megatonnes! This kind of event can leave a crater 500 km across and 2 km deep. Such an event would overshadow even the famous bombardment of Jupiter by the disintegrated comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in July 1994, which by some estimates was originally 15 km in diameter.

Stay tuned, Dear Reader (if any).  As new observations over time refine the orbit of this comet, I plan to update the screenshot and/or post a short video derived from an Orbiter scenario.

Edit: 

A short video:

Simulation is...

Credit to Dr. Richard Gran, director (ret.), Advanced Concepts, Grumman, and member of the Apollo Lunar Module Digital Autopilot design team.

Credit also to MathWorks.


 Simulation is...

The creation of a model that can be manipulated logically to decide how the physical world works.

Simulations answer questions.

Excellent video on the subject.

Against Organized Religion

Credit to Dan Lietha:

Better Photos of Apollo Landing Sites

One simply has to go to NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) website to see the interactive photos of Apollo 12, 14, and 17 landing sites.  A slider in the middle of the photo lets you seen the difference between the previous photos and the most recent ones.  Absolutely outstanding detail!  At Apollo 17's landing site, you can see better the difference between the footprints the astronauts made and the tracks made by the lunar rover.

The official NASA press release can be found here.

Here's a You Tube video:




TAKE THAT YOU MOON LANDING HOAX NUT CASES!

As an inside joke, someone posted the following thread on Orbiter-Forum:

NASA releases photos of lunar landing sound-stage

2 Kinds of Science

That would be observational science and historical science.  Don't confuse the two.

Apollo 11 Descent of Eagle to Landing via Google Moon

The video intro explains how this was constructed.

The best comment, IMO, was, "Yes they did".

Apollo 15 - 40 years

Yes, it is anniversary announcement time again.

Apollo 15 flew 40 years ago, from July 26, 1971 to August 7, 1971.  It still remains my favorite mission of the Apollo series - and my scenario pack for this mission was my first Orbiter add-on.
It was the only mission I witnessed on TV from beginning to end.  That was because it happened in the summer during school break between 3rd and 4th grades.

This date mission event was lunar landing at 6:16:29 PM EDT on July 30, 1971.

Mission firsts:

• First mission to use the Lunar Rover.
• First and only mission to incorporate a SEVA (Standing Extra Vehicular Activity).
• First mission to demonstrate a "Mr. Wizard" moment, i.e., dropping of the hammer and feather in vacuum.
• First all Air Force derived crew
• First deployment of a satellite while in lunar orbit.
• First EVA performed between Earth and Moon.
• First and only graduate of East High School (in SLC, UT) to walk on the Moon.  See photo below.

Courtesy of NASA.  Photo of Jim Irwin saluting the flag.

Jim Irwin remains the only astronaut I've seen in person.  He visited his high school alma mater to speak to the student body.

It isn't the fall that kills you...