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1500 questions
98
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1 answer
Who was the first human to sleep - perchance to dream - on the Moon?
Incidentally I don't mean "on the lunar surface, asleep laying on the surface of the moon" :)
So (A) who (if anyone) was the first human to actually be asleep (that is to say, presumably inside the lander) - not just a scheduled sleep time - on the…
Fattie
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Could Apollo astronauts stand up if they fell on the moon?
I was watching old Apollo footage and noted how astronauts on the moon had a very particular gait most likely due to the poor flexibility of the EVA suits, low gravity, and need for safety.
I was wondering what the protocol was if an astronaut fell…
RoboKaren
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89
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How did Apollo 16 capture this full photograph of the Moon's far side?
Apollo 16 famously photographed the far side of the Moon, as seen below.
This seems odd to me. Apollo 16 orbited the Moon at an orbit of only 100 km. It seems too close to get this kind of a photograph of the Moon. How was this picture captured…
PearsonArtPhoto
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Why destroy Juno at the end of the mission?
As follows from the mission timeline:
Launch - August 5, 2011
Deep Space Maneuvers - August/September 2012
Earth flyby gravity assist - October 2013
Jupiter arrival - July 2016
Spacecraft will orbit Jupiter for 20 months (37 orbits)
End of mission…
Creative Magic
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85
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8 answers
Why do most space probes survive for far longer than they were designed for?
Looking back to Opportunity (Rest In Peace, little friend), it was apparently designed to operate for 90 days but it ended up going for 16 years which is approximately 64 times longer than the engineers hoped for. This blows my mind. The technology…
Hrach
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7 answers
What can the KSP game actually teach about spaceflight and orbital mechanics, and what are its limitations?
I have seen at least several different users mention that they've found Kerbal Space Program helpful to understand issues of spaceflight and orbital mechanics.
According to Wikipedia:
While the game is not a perfect simulation of reality, it has…
uhoh
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Could "peak Apollo levels" of support have gotten NASA astronauts to Mars in the 1980's?
In an "alternate universe" where NASA continued to receive a mandate, funding and public support at say peak Apollo levels, could another ten or twenty years have gotten boots on Mars, with astronauts in those boots?
Or would there be some clear…
uhoh
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4 answers
How do astronauts on EVA deal with nose itching?
It must be absolutely torturous if your nose starts itching and you can't scratch it for several hours, when you're on EVA. How do astronauts deal with it? Are they undergoing a special training, or take some kind of desensitizing drugs? Or apply…
SF.
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What will be the effect if we stand on Jupiter?
As we all know Jupiter is a gaseous gas giant and it has a large mass, almost twice the sum of all other planets in the Solar system. So, if it happens that we go to Jupiter, and, as we know it does not have a hard surface, we could not stand on it.…
SpringLearner
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77
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6 answers
Is the SpaceX Falcon Heavy payload (a Tesla car) space junk?
Yesterday SpaceX succeeded in the first Falcon Heavy launch, but the payload, a Tesla car has no real useful purpose (except for company prestige).
Thus, can it be considered as space junk ? How long will the car stay in orbit and has it been…
Covich
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3 answers
Was the NOAA-N Prime satellite really dropped on the floor?
Recently, Donald.McLean posted this image in The Pod Bay, the site chat room:
It's a rather disturbing image once you think about it for more than about half a second. Did it really happen? What consequences is it going to have for the mission?
user12
74
votes
1 answer
Why did some Apollo missions carry a grenade launcher?
According to ALSEP Flight System Familiarization Manual, p. 2-166, some Apollo missions carried a grenade launcher and 4 grenades. What were these used for?
DrSheldon
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9 answers
A starship is traveling at 0.9c and collides with a small rock. Will it leave a clean hole through, or will more happen?
Say there is a football sized rock in the path of the ship. Will it create a football sized hole through the ship in the blink of an eye, or will more happen? The ship would be filled with metal, water, some fuel and air for simplicity sake.
Will…
Nick van der Kroon
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7 answers
Why is the American space program launch site based in Florida and not Texas?
In other words, why didn't NASA make their main space launch area in Texas? It has a point below the 30th parallel, which means that it is close enough to the equator. Why did NASA pick Florida?
Dat Ha
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Difference between BlueOrigin and SpaceX rocket landings?
So, SpaceX has finally landed their booster back to the land.
BlueOrigin has achieved the same thing in a recent past, but I have read so many people commenting and criticizing the comparison of BlueOrigin and SpaceX landings.
In fact, Jeff Bezos…
Riley Willow
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