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The Apollos That Never Were, Hardware fates and the dynamics of the program
jmknapp
post Jun 19 2008, 07:47 PM
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I was reading up on this mission and have a few questions:

1) Some of the instruments, e.g., LAMP (or LAVA LAMP, haha) will be used to identify any water ice in the "permanently shadowed" parts of polar craters. But with the Earth at least, the pole is said to have migrated quite a bit. Is the Moon conversely so locked in synchrony that its own pole can't wander appreciably? Seems like even if transient, it might not take too long to burn off any ice.

2) I was wondering what the first "earthrise" opportunity might be for LRO postcard purposes. According to the available SPICE kernels the initial orbit comes in around longitude 90 over the south pole and so from the point of view of earth circles without eclipse initially until it eventually precesses around or whatever.

3) The launch has been delayed by a month. Is there any possibility this mission might be cancelled? I.e., has NASA (read: US Congress) ever cancelled a mission where the spacecraft had essentially been built?


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ilbasso
post Jul 23 2008, 08:22 PM
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QUOTE (jmknapp @ Jun 19 2008, 02:47 PM) *
I was reading up on this mission and have a few questions:

...

3) The launch has been delayed by a month. Is there any possibility this mission might be cancelled? I.e., has NASA (read: US Congress) ever cancelled a mission where the spacecraft had essentially been built?


Sorry for the late reply here, here's another Yes answer. Apollos 18 and 19 had the hardware completely built. They were forced to cancel essentially because the money was not allocated to run the support operations.


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nprev
post Jul 26 2008, 07:26 PM
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oDoug, the book on the insider details of Apollo better be in at least rough draft form from you by now...we're never gonna forgive you if you die in 2089 & not get it published by then!!! tongue.gif

No pressure, of course... rolleyes.gif


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A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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dvandorn
post Jul 26 2008, 08:24 PM
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QUOTE (nprev @ Jul 26 2008, 02:26 PM) *
oDoug, the book on the insider details of Apollo better be in at least rough draft form from you by now...we're never gonna forgive you if you die in 2089 & not get it published by then!!! tongue.gif

No pressure, of course... rolleyes.gif

Naw... Chaikin wrote my book. Granted, I'd have added some other things than he did. But he basically wrote the book I had been working on desultorily for about 15 years.

The only actual formal interview I ever was able to set up with one of the 12 moonwalkers was with Gene Cernan. I will not speak ill of the famous; all I will say is that it was a most disturbingly unsatisfactory interview. In hindsight, I can see quite clearly Jim McDivitt's point of view.

-the other Doug


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