Soviet Lunar Images |
Soviet Lunar Images |
Jun 28 2005, 04:49 PM
Post
#1
|
||
Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10145 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Here's another very interesting and little known topic, so this is a chance to ask or to post about it.
I am looking for information on the Soviet Union's lunar missions. Actually I have lots already, but you can always use a bit more. Specifically, consider this question: what areas were photographed by the Soviet lunar orbiters, Lunas 12, 19 and 22? First I must say that these were NOT systematic mapping missions, they were tests of experimental imaging systems, and the SU never undertook any systematic mapping of the Moon. So coverage is limited. I have searched high and low for images from these missions, helped especially by the extremely talented and knowledgeable Don Mitchell. For this post I'm going to stick to Luna 19, coming back to the others later. Between us, Don and I have located five Luna 19 images, often of very poor quality (photocopies of prints from magazines, microfilm of russian newspapers, etc.) I reprojected them into approximate mapping geometry and then searched for their locations on the Moon. Result, the first ever (AFAIK) index map of Luna 19 coverage. When I was in Moscow I asked for this but got nowhere, and I'm not sure they ever did it, or certainly didn't publish it. The area often reported as the focus of Luna 19 images refers in fact only to one orbit. So, here's the index map; and if anybody can track down any OTHER Luna 19 images I would be VERY grateful for the information. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
|
|
||
Dec 31 2005, 11:43 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Mike Collins comments on the process by which the Apollo 11 CSM was named "Columbia." It seems that Columbia and Eagle, as a set, was suggested by someone *not* on the crew fairly early on in the training cycle. Collins liked the idea of Columbia for several reasons -- for one, it was *almost* the name given to the country (there was some lively debate back in 1776 between naming the country simply "America," "The United States of America," "The United States of Columbia," or simply "Columbia"). There was also the Jules Verne reference, though Collins considered that minor (after all, in Verne's book, the spacecraft wasn't named Columbiad, the *gun* was).
What Collins liked the most about the name was the fact that the song lyric "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" kept popping into his mind -- and since their CM was supposed to end its operational life as a ship in the ocean (if a poor one), he felt the name boded well for a successful (and survivable) mission. -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 18th April 2024 - 05:49 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |