The most amazing machine ever built -- humanity's greatest achievement so far. Thanks for this video. It moved me to tears to think of the courage of those great men who rode that rocket into orbit and then out to the Moon. I miss the glory and wonder of those boyhood years.
Rob Stuart We'll have those glorious days back very soon, landing on Mars... I didn't experienced those moon landing days but I'll hopefully be a witness of the new greatest human's achievement of landing on Mars, I know I'll not be able to hold my tears when that day arrives. Greetings.
Leonardo Cáceres: I sincerely hope you and I witness it. But there are major challenges to solve: the radiation shielding (especially after major solar flares and CME's), psychological impacts of prolonged confinement, extreme distance from Earth and communications time-lag; need to take vast quantities of food and water; waste disposal; need to take vast quantities of fuel. I may not live to see the day. How old are you?
Rob Stuart You may be right in some aspects of the challenge that humanity faces before such a dream, however, I fervently believe, in the power and human capacity with the challenge of surpassing oneself. Going to Mars is NOT impossible, and therefore it is something that humanity will achieve earlier than later, if it is really proposed to it, just as they did when sending rockets to the moon in the the 50's and finally humans since July 20, 1969. We already send several rockets to Mars, now we only need that "small step for a man", (or a woman), representing that "great leap for mankind".
Leonardo Cáceres: I agree that its achievable. I would prefer to see an international mission involving all the world's space agencies and leading commercial organisations such as SpaceX. I think all these separate efforts lead to a huge waste of time, effort, money, materials and human resources. The ISS has demonstrated how wonderfully nations can collaborate in space, where there are no borders and from which no borders are visible. Now let's export that international cooperation to humanity's second planet. ;-)
Rob Stuart However, most of the challenges you pose to me have been overcome, thanks to the International Space Station, we know how to handle the waste, radiation and interplanetary travelers will be able to stay in confinement, like the ones in the ISS, and in terms of communication, it wouldn't be complicated, since Mars is only a few light minutes away (3-22 Min). So, as you can see my friend, probabilities that you, and all generations living now, can witness such historical moment as Mars landing, are REALLY high!, thanks to Elon Musk and SpaceX, but also Blue Origin, and all new rocket programs.
My mom worked for one of the subcontractors who built the guidance computer onboard the Apollo command module so I am connected in a small way to the moon landings!
I believe this is the Apollo 18 flight vehicle. During the Orion program, they removed the command module so the engineers could figure out how the Command Service Module (CSM) cable and hose guillotine operated. There were no mechanical drawings kept from it during the end of the Moon program. Someone destroyed them. SPACE X now owns the worlds heavy lifting space vehicle. And it is partially reusable, The entire SATURN V vehicle was "throw away" in the early NASA days. STS was their only reusable space vehicle and most likely ever will be for NASA.
Admiral Preparedness Well, there are plenty of drawings and other data left archived, so it isn't a total disaster that way. Perhaps not that part though. I agree that they made a mistake in not continuing to keep the platform alive. In hindsight, it would have been cheaper to continue to use Apollo and throw away all hardware after each mission rather than to develop and fly the Shuttle... I'm curious of the CM displayed. It is obviously flown, but which one is it?
