The Apollo Space Programme

[mickd1961]

The greatest achievement of mankind without question I still believe.

One thing that’s always fascinated me about it was the choice of astronauts.......the selection of these men was a masterclass in my opinion.

I was checking some facts earlier today and 16 out of the 32 men that flew in the Apollo program are still with us and range from 84 to nearly 93 years old in Jim Lovell’s case.

A significant number of the 16 who have died have only departed in the last 2 to 4 years and the vast majority who flew made it well into their 80’s.

If you consider that three of them died during testing in the 60’s it makes the ratio of longevity even greater.

To select people for their mental and physical attributes in the 60’s and to get such a staggering return in terms of the above amazes me.

I’m watching a SKY documentary called simply “Apollo 11” which features a lot of behind the scenes footage not usually seen, its a really good watch.

I hope I live long enough to see us land on Mars.

[DaveP67 is back!]

Absolutely agree in my eyes the #1 achievement of humanity! Even more so given the amount of outsourced contract companies used and the technology of the day. Equivalent today sending a man to mars technology speaking is a doddle.. just the $$$ is the issue!

[Bombers right foot]

Maybe the first lot to go to Mars should be the Snowflake society, then they can live in a world of total silence frightened to say anything that would offend, I’ll donate towards the fare now.

[WBA1955]

You lot watch too much sci-fi.
Mars is a one way trip. A one way ticket.
Let's keep messing about with the spacestation which orbit's just outside earth's atmosphere and pretend we are Steve Zodiac eh?
I wouldn't be surprised if Mick hasn't baited his rod for my benefit lol.

[mickd1961]

You lot watch too much sci-fi.
Mars is a one way trip. A one way ticket.
Let's keep messing about with the spacestation which orbit's just outside earth's atmosphere and pretend we are Steve Zodiac eh?
I wouldn't be surprised if Mick hasn't baited his rod for my benefit lol.

I won’t deny that you entered my thoughts Des😆

[westcountryvillain]

An awesome achievement without a doubt, it took 2 days to get there and they were an hour from turning back I believe due to the fuel they had left. That guy in the capsule orbiting the moon whilst the others landed too, the feeling of isolation must have been incredible and perhaps wondering if they'd make it back.

Yes I agree Mick - the greatest achievement of mankind, closely followed by modern medicine - some of which is bl00dy marvellous stuff.

[mickd1961]

An awesome achievement without a doubt, it took 2 days to get there and they were an hour from turning back I believe due to the fuel they had left. That guy in the capsule orbiting the moon whilst the others landed too, the feeling of isolation must have been incredible and perhaps wondering if they'd make it back.

Yes I agree Mick - the greatest achievement of mankind, closely followed by modern medicine - some of which is bl00dy marvellous stuff.

It was the actual Lunar Lander that almost had to abort WCV Zoe the “LEM” as it was known.

Coming in to land Neil Armstrong realised they were above a large boulder field so being the genius and ultra cool man he was he “winged it” and kept flying and managed to land with only about 13 seconds of spare fuel left.

14 seconds later and they wouldn’t have had enough fuel to return and would’ve died on the moon surface.

A main switch also broke in the LEM and luckily Buzz Aldrin found a pen in his top pocket that fitted the hole perfectly and the switch became workable.

Cool heads.

[WBA1955]

A journey to Mars would take seven months. Considering all the plans they had for the Moon, and then never bothered with it, how much stuff would they need to take to colonise Mars?
I hope mankind never leaves this planet, we have done enough damage to this one.
Here's a scary thought, there might not be another planet anywhere else in the universe capable of supporting life like ours.

[mickd1961]

A journey to Mars would take seven months. Considering all the plans they had for the Moon, and then never bothered with it, how much stuff would they need to take to colonise Mars?
I hope mankind never leaves this planet, we have done enough damage to this one.
Here's a scary thought, there might not be another planet anywhere else in the universe capable of supporting life like ours.

The nearest, most habitable planet to Earth is thought to be Proxima Centuri Des which using present technology would take us 6300 years to get to.

The Egyptians were just getting up a head of steam 6000 years ago which gives an idea of the timescale.

You’d need to live to a hundred 63 times over and be travelling at full velocity the whole time.......mind boggling.

I don’t know if anyone realises this but when the Apollo capsule was coming back to earth it was travelling at almost 8 miles per second😲

Think about that......8 miles every second so that’s Cornwall and back in one minute.


And it’s still nowhere near quick enough to make Stellar space a viable travel option.

[kettering_baggie]

Interstellar travel for humans is completely out of the question given current scientific knowledge; it would require an advancement in physics beyond anything yet discovered to alter the situation. ‘Wormholes’ have been suggested as a possible means of reaching other star systems but that is still in the realms of science fiction. If humans were ever to discover a propulsion method that would send a spacecraft somewhere at close to the speed of light, it would still take too long a time. Also, we’re it to be possible and to be able to make the return trip, time would have advanced on the Earth hundreds of years beyond the lives of the astronauts. This is why I don’t believe in flying saucers visiting the Earth with strange aliens aboard!