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Post by chew on Mar 6, 2010 10:58:08 GMT -4
Ah, well. Maybe we'll convince the next one that comes along.
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Bob B.
Bob the Excel Guru?
Posts: 3,072
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Post by Bob B. on Mar 6, 2010 11:55:52 GMT -4
You know, I can't even be sure what blackbriar1 was claiming. His posts were so vague and full of misunderstanding that all I could discern is that he thought something was fishy. From what I read, my take on it can be summarized as follows: The LM couldn’t be injected into a precise enough orbit to rendezvous with the CSM. He wasn’t real specific on why, but he did allude to not knowing the position of the landing site well enough. He then implied that since the orbits of the LM and CSM would be ‘out of whack’, large amounts of propellant would be needed to get them properly aligned for the rendezvous. The showstopper then was that the LM didn’t carry enough propellant to perform these alleged maneuvers. He also made some incredulous claims about a camera that didn’t exist, which he seems to have retracted. It would be easier have a discussion if the posts more specific so replies could be less based on guesses of what he really meant. The problem is that his premise is based on nothing more than disbelief. He can’t be more specific because he lacks the facts and knowledge to do so.
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Post by drewid on Mar 6, 2010 12:42:25 GMT -4
Someone should have asked him the "how do you catch up with an orbiting craft in front of you?" question.
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Post by chew on Mar 6, 2010 13:16:03 GMT -4
Someone should have asked him the "how do you catch up with an orbiting craft in front of you?" question. Jay was working his way to that but the guy didn't take the bait.
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Post by BertL on Mar 6, 2010 14:07:38 GMT -4
So how DO you catch up with an orbiting craft in front of you?
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Post by Nowhere Man on Mar 6, 2010 14:14:39 GMT -4
Ah, well. Maybe we'll convince the next one that comes along. To steal a joke from kleindoofy over at BAUT: Fred
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Post by banjomd on Mar 6, 2010 14:16:11 GMT -4
So how DO you catch up with an orbiting craft in front of you? Everybody knows; just point your nose at your target and blast away! I mean it's not like you need to know orbital mechanics. ;D
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Post by drewid on Mar 6, 2010 14:22:28 GMT -4
So how DO you catch up with an orbiting craft in front of you? Slow down.
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Post by chew on Mar 6, 2010 14:30:46 GMT -4
So how DO you catch up with an orbiting craft in front of you? Slow down. So... how... DO... you... catch... up... with... an... orbiting... craft... in... front... of... you?
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Post by randombloke on Mar 6, 2010 14:32:15 GMT -4
So... how... DO... you... catch... up... with... an... orbiting... craft... in... front... of... you? Slow down some more.
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Post by gillianren on Mar 6, 2010 14:50:15 GMT -4
I've been meaning to ask, gillianren. I know you've got a degree in English (though I'm not sure in what subject specifically), but are you a teacher? Alas, no. What I am is on disability. I have a grammar text I've tutored people out of, which I have written, but the Social Security Administration, in its infinite wisdom, has decreed that I am not capable of holding a job for six months, and they're right. Besides, what I have is a BA, and while I can substitute teach in elementary school, I would handle that very badly. I'd need further degrees to teach at the college level, the only level for which I am emotionally equipped. Bipolar disorder's a bear sometimes. And if worse comes to worst, I can always offer to tutor any HB in grammar while you lot tutor them in science!
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Post by drewid on Mar 6, 2010 15:15:29 GMT -4
So... how... DO... you... catch... up... with... an... orbiting... craft... in... front... of... you? No really. A stable orbit of a given radius (well radii since orbits are an ellipse) has a speed associated with it. The further out the orbit the faster it is. But because of the way the maths works the quickest way to catch up with something in front is actually to slow down, drop to a slightly lower orbit and therefore take a shorter route to the intercept point. Takes less fuel too. It's obviously a gross simplification but it'll do. Bob B can provide real numbers, don't ask me to cos it makes my head hurt.
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Post by drewid on Mar 6, 2010 15:28:31 GMT -4
found an unattributed quote about it (Might be Schirra?)
and
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Post by fiveonit on Mar 6, 2010 16:51:09 GMT -4
found an unattributed quote about it (Might be Schirra?) and Now I don't feel quite as ignorant as I did for asking this question. Sounds like some pretty complicated stuff!
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Post by Ginnie on Mar 6, 2010 18:27:15 GMT -4
Sometimes being British on these boards sucks ... I checked this thread last evening to find only the OP. This morning, I come back to find it has grown to five pages and the debate (such as it was) seems to already have run its course, so I only get to read it in hindsight. I have that problem on another forum where almost everyone is from the U.K. By the time I log on most folks are either out for the evening or going to bed. ...but to get back on track... I must be getting lazy or losing my enthusiasm for debunking nowadays. When I first joined I'd be getting out the books and looking up information on the web, or conducting my own little experiments to help contribute to these threads. I don't know how most people here can keep it up, answering the same questions (or accusations) day after day. Probably because PW, Kiwi, Bob, Jay and others can pull out more stuff out of the top of their head than I will ever begin to know! The one thing that is consistent lately it seems is than our visiting Apollo doubters don't just ask questions, they come in guns ablazing with accusations and misinformation. Of course, doing that you're much less likely to get a friendly reception, or even learn about the specifics of Apollo and the Space Program. Then the threads deteriorate to the point that education becomes secondary to the exasperation and frustration on both sides of the issue.
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