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50 Years Since First Moon Landing - 20Th July 1969


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#1 mab01uk

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Posted 02 July 2019 - 07:52 PM

 

It is soon 50 years since the first Moon landing on 20th July 1969.......I was 11 years old and remember getting up at about 3am with my parents to watch Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon live on our black & white TV. Probably the most exciting event ever broadcast on live TV in my lifetime and a moment in history I will never forget. I still have the special Moon landing editions of the Radio and TV Times magazines plus an Apollo 11 pack from Daily Express for kids to to follow the mission. I used to love the James Burke and Patrick Moore tv coverage of all the moon missions, sadly hardly any of their original historic tv coverage survives as the BBC wiped the tapes probably to reuse as was their policy back then!

By the later Apollo moon missions around 1971 my dad rented our first colour TV ....a very large wooden cabinet with latest push button channel selection for the 3 channels available BBC1, BBC2 & ITV, .......remote controls and Channel 4 were still a few years away!

 

“For the night of the Moon landing, both the BBC and ITV made British TV history by screening the nation’s first all night broadcasts, remaining on air for 11 hours from 11.30pm, July 20th to 10.30am, July 21st. Considering how much attention was given to Apollo 11 by the BBC, it is hard to accept that very little PasB (programme as broadcast) visual material survives today in the archives.”

https://wipednews.wo...bbc-broadcasts/

 

British television Apollo 11 coverage:-

https://en.wikipedia...llo_11_coverage

 

 


Edited by mab01uk, 02 July 2019 - 08:39 PM.


#2 phillrulz

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Posted 02 July 2019 - 08:03 PM

Way to lure the tin foil hatters out haha. 



#3 xrocketengineer

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Posted 02 July 2019 - 09:08 PM

I don't know if you can get it in the UK but CNN is showing on cable over here, "Apollo 11" the movie. Here is a clip on how it was made. They were inspired by "They Shall Not Grow Old" but they lucked out finding 70mm footage and used archived sound recordings for the most part. It was interesting and worth watching for me to watch how things were in the day, since Apollo was before my work time. I even saw my former boss at the beginning of the video. 

 

https://edition.cnn....view/index.html



#4 Cooperman

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Posted 02 July 2019 - 09:33 PM

I well remember sitting up watching it until very late.
The next day at work was a bit 'tiring', but as we were working on the design of the Concorde at the time no-one seemed to mind. In fact I reckon the entire staff had stayed up to watch.
It was a truly amazing thing.

#5 xrocketengineer

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 12:53 AM

One of the "old timers" that worked on Apollo and later on the Shuttle is John Tribe. He is from the UK and he is one of the nicest persons and he always has great stories to tell. Here is one of his stories:

 https://twitter.com/...489715837669377

 

Some more of his stories during an appreciation luncheon for him:



#6 Spider

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 12:55 AM

I do remember it well.

 

It did at that time, define a moment in history, while that moment will live of forever, sadly it's something I think isn't given it's due 'weight' in the popular media these days.

 

There was so much that came from the whole program that has since entered our daily lives and few give it a second thought.

 

I'm looking forward to the release of the new doco (especially having seen that dismal 'First Man' movie) but I'll likely have to go to Melbourne to see it at an I-max as our 'local' one is undergoing a refurbishment.



#7 xrocketengineer

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 02:25 AM

We also had an oddball launch today. NASA tested the Orion capsule crew jettison system. The flight only lasted about 55 seconds. So far it appears successful even though the rocket, capsule and the jettison tower all crashed in the water.

https://www.nasa.gov...n-mars-missions

#8 hhhh

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 02:56 PM

This is an entertaining read: http://centerforanin...m/moondoggie-1/



#9 Cooperman

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 06:25 PM

One of the "old timers" that worked on Apollo and later on the Shuttle is John Tribe. He is from the UK and he is one of the nicest persons and he always has great stories to tell. Here is one of his stories:

 https://twitter.com/...489715837669377

 

Some more of his stories during an appreciation luncheon for him:

John Tribe is an ex-de Havilland apprentice, as am I. DH was a wonderful place to be a student way back then, although some were more interested in cars and girls than aeroplanes (not me of course!). 



#10 xrocketengineer

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Posted 03 July 2019 - 10:09 PM

This is an entertaining read: http://centerforanin...m/moondoggie-1/

 

Even though I did not work on Apollo, I disagree with the article in many ways. However, the author makes a point that I believe is very correct when he says:

 

It is perfectly obvious, of course, that it was not consumer electronics that allegedly sent men to the Moon. The point here though is that advances in aerospace technology mirror advances in consumer technology, and just as there has been revolutionary change in entertainment and communications technology, so too has aerospace technology advanced by light-years in the last four decades. "

 

During the Apollo days its budgets where astronomical, so the spending for research and development was comparable with the military budgets of the day. So the greatest and the latest tech was being used. That tech compared to today's, is unbelievable obsolete.  After the last Moon flight the NASA budgets have been a fraction of the ones during the Apollo early flights. 

 

Along the same lines the Soviets were probably smarter designing but were hindered by their lack of consumer products and production capability. They would spend on research and develop a new technology for space or defence but there was no way to cut their production costs since there was no effort to commercialise and produce in mass the technology spin offs that could have become consumer products that never materialised. In the West, a new technology developed for the military would eventually have a commercial spin off. In order for the new product to reach the consumer it has to be mass produced and cheap. Think of Microwave Ovens (RADAR), Personal Computers, Cell Phones, GPS and so forth. This would in turn provide a more cost effective production scheme that could be used for the next military project.

 

To illustrate this, as my personal experience, in the 1990's it was agreed with the Russians for the Space Shuttle was to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir and a new US docking system was being designed. The US design was crap. It was finally agreed for the US to purchase a much better designed Russian Docking system. This was not a new design but a tried and true system that they had been using for years on Soyuz. When we started receiving the Russian hardware and documentation, we were very impressed with the sophistication of the design and how well it worked. However, we were surprised that there were slotted head screws and not a single Philips head (or equivalent) screw on the Russian hardware. It appeared that the Russians could not manufacture such a screw which in turn prevented them from using power tools when assembling quickly in a mass production scenario. Then there was the other issue; interchangeability of parts. There were several of the mechanical parts, including the ones that operated micro-switches that per the Russian prints indicated no final dimensions. The parts were supposed to be trimmed by hand for proper operation per the print notes. 

 

If my observation is correct, the Soviets would had not being able to produce things quickly and cheaply enough and catch up with the US and make it to the Moon. If they had continued with a Moon programme, they would have probably gone broke sooner than when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

 

Still, the bottom line is money. What is the return on the investment to go to the Moon? Science or prestige only is not going to be the justification anymore to go there or anywhere else.   


Edited by xrocketengineer, 04 July 2019 - 01:45 PM.


#11 hhhh

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 06:17 PM

Why do these guys looks so remorseful and uncomfortable having achieved the greatest feat ever by mankind? https://youtu.be/BI_ZehPOMwI


Edited by hhhh, 04 July 2019 - 06:19 PM.


#12 xrocketengineer

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 07:05 PM

Their Chevy Corvette $1 a year leases had expired while they were off planet. 



#13 the.stroker

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Posted 04 July 2019 - 07:27 PM

Why do these guys looks so remorseful and uncomfortable having achieved the greatest feat ever by mankind? [url=https://youtu.be/BI_ZehPOMwI%5Dhttps://youtu.be/BI_ZehPOMwI%5B/url%5D


They have gone from average joe test pilot to global superstars in a short period of time, added to which they are still trying to process actually walking on a celestial body.
Is enough to blow anyone’s mind.

#14 mab01uk

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Posted 05 July 2019 - 09:01 AM

8 Days: To The Moon & Back - BBC2 Wednesday 10 July 2019 - 9.00pm-10.30pm

"Eight days, three hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds. That’s the total duration of the most important and celebrated space mission ever flown - Apollo 11 - when we first stepped foot on the moon. Eight days that created some of the most iconic images in human history and changed the way we think about our place in the universe forever. But what was it really like for those three men in that high-tech tin can through each of those extraordinary eight days?

8 Days, a feature-length drama documentary to mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, will bring the real story of the mission as it happened. With access to hours of declassified cockpit audio recorded by the astronauts themselves, 8 Days will use cutting-edge digital effects and dramatised performances to create a stunning 21st century visual journey to bring the original audio to life.

Until now we’ve only glimpsed inside Apollo 11 with a handful of iconic stills and a few precious minutes of movie footage. But what if we could step inside that Saturn V rocket and for the very first time be on the inside to hear every word they said, from moments of high drama to the constant banter on that long and dangerous journey."

https://www.bbc.co.u...e-moon-and-back


Edited by mab01uk, 05 July 2019 - 09:15 AM.


#15 mini13

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Posted 05 July 2019 - 12:38 PM

exactly that, they have achived the greatest thing that they are ever going to, situations like that can trigger stong feelings of deflation and depression, one of the reason for so many rockstar deaths,

 

 

 

 



Why do these guys looks so remorseful and uncomfortable having achieved the greatest feat ever by mankind? https://youtu.be/BI_ZehPOMwI






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