Editing 2909: Moon Landing Mission Profiles
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | Getting astronauts to the | + | {{incomplete|Created by A MOON THAT LOOKS ESPECIALLY LARGE TONIGHT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
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+ | Getting astronauts to the moon is hard.{{citation needed}} There are different strategies to do it. This comic reviews three mission profiles considered for the Apollo moon landings, and one which is absurd. In all cases, it only depicts the means to reach the Moon, more suitable for robotic missions that are not required to return, with manned/sample-return missions really requiring followup diagrams/notation to explain how to safely complete their journeys back to Earth. | ||
'''{{w|Lunar Orbit Rendezvous}} (LOR)''' | '''{{w|Lunar Orbit Rendezvous}} (LOR)''' | ||
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Explanation: This concept involved launching different parts of the spacecraft into Earth orbit using multiple rockets and then assembling them before heading to the Moon. It would have allowed almost arbitrarily large sizes of equipment to have reached the surface, perhaps to simplify the return journey, but with the complication of adding multiple orbital docking procedures to the project rather than most assembling and spacecraft mating being carried out prior to launch. It should be noted that Randall made a mistake on this point of the comic; the Earth Orbit Rendezvous would have required multiple launches of the {{w|Saturn IB}}, not multiple launches of the Saturn V. | Explanation: This concept involved launching different parts of the spacecraft into Earth orbit using multiple rockets and then assembling them before heading to the Moon. It would have allowed almost arbitrarily large sizes of equipment to have reached the surface, perhaps to simplify the return journey, but with the complication of adding multiple orbital docking procedures to the project rather than most assembling and spacecraft mating being carried out prior to launch. It should be noted that Randall made a mistake on this point of the comic; the Earth Orbit Rendezvous would have required multiple launches of the {{w|Saturn IB}}, not multiple launches of the Saturn V. | ||
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'''{{w|Direct Ascent}}''' | '''{{w|Direct Ascent}}''' | ||
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Status: Rejected for requiring an unreasonably large rocket. | Status: Rejected for requiring an unreasonably large rocket. | ||
− | Explanation: This was a simpler but less feasible approach, where a single huge rocket (or a particularly large rocket stack) would send the lander straight to the Moon. The inefficiency comes in taking a comparatively huge rocket down to the Moon and back up, requiring a lot more fuel than a separate lander. It avoids having to 'park' items in orbit that it must later dock once more with, but then increases the mass that must land on/take off from the lunar surface, without being useful during this phase of the mission | + | Explanation: This was a simpler but less feasible approach, where a single huge rocket (or a particularly large rocket stack) would send the lander straight to the Moon (. The inefficiency comes in taking a comparatively huge rocket down to the Moon and back up, requiring a lot more fuel than a separate lander. It avoids having to 'park' items in orbit that it must later dock once more with, but then increases the mass that must land on/take off from the lunar surface, without being useful during this phase of the mission. |
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In reality, this was the approach imagined for the Nova C-8 rocket as an Apollo alternative. This was also the approach used in {{w|Destination Moon (comics)|Destination Moon}} from {{w|The Adventures of Tintin}}, with the fuel problem addressed by using a nuclear reactor for much of the trip—which would be a really bad idea in reality since "rockets have a tendency to explode"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHvR1fRTW8g]. Science fiction movies have frequently depicted this method of landing, either before the dawn of the actual Apollo program or (to save plot-time ''or'' by using a fictional increase in rocket capability) in more futuristic settings. | In reality, this was the approach imagined for the Nova C-8 rocket as an Apollo alternative. This was also the approach used in {{w|Destination Moon (comics)|Destination Moon}} from {{w|The Adventures of Tintin}}, with the fuel problem addressed by using a nuclear reactor for much of the trip—which would be a really bad idea in reality since "rockets have a tendency to explode"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHvR1fRTW8g]. Science fiction movies have frequently depicted this method of landing, either before the dawn of the actual Apollo program or (to save plot-time ''or'' by using a fictional increase in rocket capability) in more futuristic settings. | ||
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Status: Rejected because, humorously, "I guess no one thought of it?!" | Status: Rejected because, humorously, "I guess no one thought of it?!" | ||
− | Explanation: This is a fictional and impractical scenario. The Moon cannot | + | Explanation: This is a fictional and impractical scenario. The Moon cannot propulse itself and cannot alter its orbit to rendezvous with a spacecraft. The Moon would also break up because {{w|low Earth orbit}} is within the {{w|Roche limit}}. Astronauts would theoretically land on the Moon, but the hypothetical fragments of the Moon would make the landing impractical. This would be also bad for the Earth's climate, tides and ecosystems. |
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− | The title text imagines the | + | The title text imagines the moon coming to ''very'' low earth orbit, low enough to reach with a step ladder. There are many reasons this is wholly impractical, as well as civilization-ending. Dropping a moon on the Earth from 6 feet would likely cover the earth in about 45 km of moon matter (see [[2908: Moon Armor Index]]). If the moon somehow were put in orbit around the Earth at a height of 6 feet, the only difference is that debris would crash into you from the side at a faster velocity. |
===Factual Mission Profiles=== | ===Factual Mission Profiles=== | ||
− | The Apollo Program considered a number of possible mission profiles. Of the {{w|Apollo program#Choosing a mission mode|four shortlist plans}}, the Lunar Surface | + | The Apollo Program considered a number of possible mission profiles. Of the {{w|Apollo program#Choosing a mission mode|four shortlist plans}}, the Lunar Surface Rendevous plan was not shown or mentioned in this comic, but clearly inspired the title of the method created in its place. |
With the ongoing work to achieve the {{w|Artemis program}}, the successor to Apollo, this comic is probably also making sideways references to the plans and equipment being developed to achieve it, which currently features several aspects of the above examples. A single crewed-launch is intending to rendezvous with, and make use of, additional equipment separately launched (including one that is very nearly one big rocket in its own right). Instead of assembling in Earth orbit, it will probably make use of a [https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/lunar-near-rectilinear-halo-orbit-gateway lunar near-rectilinear halo orbit], or NRHO, to and from which the landing system will operate. There is also planning, still in an early stage, to establish lunar-surface infrastructure that would simplify the refuelling of the transfer craft and support surface operations. | With the ongoing work to achieve the {{w|Artemis program}}, the successor to Apollo, this comic is probably also making sideways references to the plans and equipment being developed to achieve it, which currently features several aspects of the above examples. A single crewed-launch is intending to rendezvous with, and make use of, additional equipment separately launched (including one that is very nearly one big rocket in its own right). Instead of assembling in Earth orbit, it will probably make use of a [https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/lunar-near-rectilinear-halo-orbit-gateway lunar near-rectilinear halo orbit], or NRHO, to and from which the landing system will operate. There is also planning, still in an early stage, to establish lunar-surface infrastructure that would simplify the refuelling of the transfer craft and support surface operations. | ||
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:'''Lunar orbit rendezvous''' | :'''Lunar orbit rendezvous''' | ||
:Spacecraft orbits Moon, drops lander | :Spacecraft orbits Moon, drops lander | ||
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:Chosen by the Apollo program | :Chosen by the Apollo program | ||
− | :[Top right panel] | + | :[Top right panel] |
:'''Earth orbit rendezvous''' | :'''Earth orbit rendezvous''' | ||
:Large lander assembled in Earth orbit via several launches, travels to Moon | :Large lander assembled in Earth orbit via several launches, travels to Moon | ||
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:Rejected for requiring multiple Saturn Vs per landing and potentially taking longer | :Rejected for requiring multiple Saturn Vs per landing and potentially taking longer | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Lower left panel] |
:'''Direct ascent''' | :'''Direct ascent''' | ||
:Lander launched from Earth directly to Moon | :Lander launched from Earth directly to Moon | ||
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:Rejected for requiring an unreasonably large rocket | :Rejected for requiring an unreasonably large rocket | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Lower right panel] |
:'''Lunar Earth rendezvous''' | :'''Lunar Earth rendezvous''' | ||
:Moon transits to rendezvous with spacecraft in low Earth orbit | :Moon transits to rendezvous with spacecraft in low Earth orbit | ||
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:Rejected because I guess no one thought of it?! | :Rejected because I guess no one thought of it?! | ||