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Old July 25th, 2021 #1
T.Garrett
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Cool Is Apollo 11's 'Eagle' ascent stage still in orbit around the moon?

I doubt it but interesting theory ...


Quote:
Is Apollo 11's Lunar Module Still In Orbit Around The Moon 52 Years Later?

Scott Manley

In 1969 Neil Armstrong announced a safe touchdown on the moon with the words 'The Eagle has Landed'. "Eagle" was the name of the Lunar Module, the spacecraft which carried Neil and Buzz to the surface of the moon. After they walked on the surface of the moon they flew the Eagle back into orbit, docked with the Columbia command module and undocked the Eagle, leaving it in orbit while Columbia returned to Earth.

Most spacecraft in lunar orbit suffer from instability in their orbits due to the 'lumpy' nature of the lunar gravity which tends to cause the orbits to eventually get so elliptical that they hit the moon.

However, an amateur space fan wanted to narrow down the possible impact location and used orbit modelling software to propagate the orbit forwards in time until it hit the moon. He was surprised to find that it didn't hit the moon, and remained in a stable orbit for decades, this suggests that the Eagle may still be orbiting the moon over 5 decades after being left there.

Here's the paper: Long-term Orbit Stability of the Apollo 11 Eagle Lunar Module Ascent Stage James Meador https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

And his github with the scripts for GMAT https://github.com/RogerTwank/Eagle

And more information in the blog https://snoopy.rogertwank.net/2020/09...

NASA's GMAT software: https://sourceforge.net/projects/gmat/

The thread in Unmannedspaceflight.com showing processing of ingenuity images. http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/in...

Seán Doran's youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28l...

Last edited by T.Garrett; July 25th, 2021 at 02:00 AM.
 
Old July 25th, 2021 #2
Ray Allan
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I read about that too, and was going to post Scott's Manley's video, but I thought certain individuals would start trolling the thread. Eagle's ascent stage has probably crashed into the Moon by now, unfortunately. It would have made a highly significant and historical display in the Smithsonian or placed near Eagle's descent stage at Tranquility Base. However, there is one intact flown LM ascent stage still out there--Apollo 10's Snoopy, somewhere in heliocentric orbit. Hopefully that will be found someday and placed in a museum.
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Old July 25th, 2021 #3
T.Garrett
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Talking LM's are priceless artifacts

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Allan View Post
I read about that too, and was going to post Scott's Manley's video, but I thought certain individuals would start trolling the thread.
I knew you would find Manley's video interesting ...um, the "porn posse" was here in this thread about an hour or so ago led by pedo paulie and left without posting. Dont let those losers stop you from writing what you please on the forum Ray, last I looked the place belonged to you ...our #1 poster!

Quote:
Eagle's ascent stage has probably crashed into the Moon by now, unfortunately. It would have made a highly significant and historical display in the Smithsonian or placed near Eagle's descent stage at Tranquility Base. However, there is one intact flown LM ascent stage still out there--Apollo 10's Snoopy, somewhere in heliocentric orbit. Hopefully that will be found someday and placed in a museum.
I thought the Eagle's ascent stage was gone with the wind (solar wind ) myself dude, new info indicating that it might be found somewhere in the "neighborhood" intact is great news.

And if scientists can locate Snoopy I think no reasonable effort should be spared retrieving it, both spacecraft are priceless historical artifacts of man's first steps off our planet that should be brought back to Earth to be preserved and displayed for posterity.
 
Old July 25th, 2021 #4
Nikola Bijeliti
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All of the lunar module ascent stages for the six successful landing missions were intentionally crashed onto the moon to provide data for the seismometers on the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Packages. I'm surprised that Scott Manley didn't know that. I thought that was common knowledge. The Snoopy ascent stage, as has been stated, is still in orbit around the sun. It is the only one that is still intact and could, I suppose, be brought back to earth some day to be put in a museum.
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Old July 25th, 2021 #5
Ray Allan
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Here is what happened to all the Apollo Lunar Modules flown:

LM-1 Apollo 5: Unmanned test in Earth orbit. Burned up on re-entry after completion of mission.

LM-3 "Spider" Apollo 9: Manned test in Earth orbit. Burned up on re-entry after completion of mission.

LM-4 "Snoopy" Apollo 10: Manned test in lunar orbit. Descent stage crashed on Moon. Ascent stage in solar orbit.

LM-5 "Eagle" Apollo 11: Manned lunar landing. Descent stage on Moon. Ascent stage jettisoned in lunar orbit after mission, probably crashed on Moon later.

LM-6 "Intrepid" Apollo 12: Descent stage on Moon. Ascent stage intentionally crashed on Moon.

LM-7 "Aquarius" Apollo 13: Burned up in Earth's atmosphere after completion of mission.

LM-8 "Antares" Apollo 14: Descent stage on Moon. Ascent stage intentionally crashed on Moon.

LM-10 "Falcon" Apollo 15: Descent stage on Moon. Ascent stage intentionally crashed on Moon.

LM-11: "Orion" Apollo 16: Descent stage on Moon. Ascent stage jettisoned in lunar orbit, probably crashed on Moon later.

LM-12: "Challenger" Apollo 17: Descent stage on Moon. Ascent stage intentionally crashed on Moon.

(LM-2, LM-9 and LM-13 were not flown)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Lunar_Module
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Old July 30th, 2021 #6
Ray Allan
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Old September 6th, 2021 #7
Ray Allan
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Eagle may be gone, but there is one historic space artifact still out there--Vanguard 1. Launched into Earth orbit on March 17, 1958 and predating the existence of NASA, it is the second satellite successfully orbited by the United States. It is the oldest man-made object in space, along with its upper stage rocket booster, and is estimated to remain in orbit for at least another 200 years, giving us plenty of time to inspect it with another spacecraft or send tourists up to see it. Vanguard may even be retrieved and put in a museum someday.



Vanguard 1
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