Philosophy
The Writer's Almanac...
On this date in 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photograph of the Earth from space. The Orbiter program began in 1964; its purpose was to take pictures of as much of the Moon's surface as possible so that scientists could scout potential landing sites for the upcoming Apollo missions. Lunar Orbiter 1 was launched on August 10 and recorded images from the 18th to the 29th. There were five Orbiters in all — the last one launched on August 1, 1967 — and by the time the project was completed, they had images of 99 percent of the lunar surface. The data was recorded on large magnetic tapes, and the resolution wasn't great by modern standards, but it proved invaluable for mapping purposes. It's since been restored and digitized, and the level of detail has allowed scientists to study the weather patterns of that day.
On August 23, just as Orbiter 1 was about to pass behind the Moon, mission controllers sent the command to change the angle of the cameras so that they were pointing at the Earth rather than the surface below. They just managed to capture our home planet's first portrait: a silvery, cloud-swirled crescent rising over the Moon's pockmarked face. Down on Earth, the Beatles were preparing for their last concert at Shea Stadium, the Vietnam war was raging, Muhammad Ali was applying for a "conscientious objector" exemption from the draft, and Star Trek, one of the most influential depictions of space travel in pop culture history, would premiere only two weeks later.
- Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project
"Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project" March 5th, 2013 RocketHub We are looking for people to help us complete the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP). We call this technoarchaeology - mining the past to support science in the future. ...
- Moon Gets 2.5 Minutes Of Fame On Youtube
"Video: Year of Moon Motion in 2.5 Minutes" by Alice Vincent June 15th, 2011 Wired UK Many claim to see a man in the moon, but now an animation has been made that showcases a year’s worth of moon movements in less than three minutes. Topographical...
- “genesis Rock”
Almost 40 years ago this day [July 30th, 19171] Apollo 15 landed on the Moon. And one of the items brought back to Earth was the so-called “Genesis Rock” which after analysis was dated to be 4.5 billion years old making it almost as old as the solar...
- Planet-c Venus Climate Orbiter
NASA, Russia, and China aren't the only ones doing space exploration...Japan is quietly doing their part and in 75 days [May 18th] they will launch "AKATSUKI" comprised of several projects including a trip to Venus [PLANET-C Venus Climate Orbiter]....
- Apollo 11 Star Chart Sells For $218k
"Apollo 11 chart fetches astronomical price" Star navigation aid for lunar surface sold at auction for $218,000 July 16th, 2009 The Associated Press NEW YORK - A navigational chart used by Apollo 11 astronauts has become the unexpected star of an auction...
Philosophy
Lunar Orbiter 1 and snap of home
The Writer's Almanac...
On this date in 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photograph of the Earth from space. The Orbiter program began in 1964; its purpose was to take pictures of as much of the Moon's surface as possible so that scientists could scout potential landing sites for the upcoming Apollo missions. Lunar Orbiter 1 was launched on August 10 and recorded images from the 18th to the 29th. There were five Orbiters in all — the last one launched on August 1, 1967 — and by the time the project was completed, they had images of 99 percent of the lunar surface. The data was recorded on large magnetic tapes, and the resolution wasn't great by modern standards, but it proved invaluable for mapping purposes. It's since been restored and digitized, and the level of detail has allowed scientists to study the weather patterns of that day.
On August 23, just as Orbiter 1 was about to pass behind the Moon, mission controllers sent the command to change the angle of the cameras so that they were pointing at the Earth rather than the surface below. They just managed to capture our home planet's first portrait: a silvery, cloud-swirled crescent rising over the Moon's pockmarked face. Down on Earth, the Beatles were preparing for their last concert at Shea Stadium, the Vietnam war was raging, Muhammad Ali was applying for a "conscientious objector" exemption from the draft, and Star Trek, one of the most influential depictions of space travel in pop culture history, would premiere only two weeks later.
- Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project
"Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project" March 5th, 2013 RocketHub We are looking for people to help us complete the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP). We call this technoarchaeology - mining the past to support science in the future. ...
- Moon Gets 2.5 Minutes Of Fame On Youtube
"Video: Year of Moon Motion in 2.5 Minutes" by Alice Vincent June 15th, 2011 Wired UK Many claim to see a man in the moon, but now an animation has been made that showcases a year’s worth of moon movements in less than three minutes. Topographical...
- “genesis Rock”
Almost 40 years ago this day [July 30th, 19171] Apollo 15 landed on the Moon. And one of the items brought back to Earth was the so-called “Genesis Rock” which after analysis was dated to be 4.5 billion years old making it almost as old as the solar...
- Planet-c Venus Climate Orbiter
NASA, Russia, and China aren't the only ones doing space exploration...Japan is quietly doing their part and in 75 days [May 18th] they will launch "AKATSUKI" comprised of several projects including a trip to Venus [PLANET-C Venus Climate Orbiter]....
- Apollo 11 Star Chart Sells For $218k
"Apollo 11 chart fetches astronomical price" Star navigation aid for lunar surface sold at auction for $218,000 July 16th, 2009 The Associated Press NEW YORK - A navigational chart used by Apollo 11 astronauts has become the unexpected star of an auction...