Fifty years ago today, Apollo VIII brought us to the moon for the first time ever.

[unixknight]

43 minutes ago, Vort said:

Well, I'm probably closer to his age than I am to yours...

I'm 44.  Dunno if that means anything, I'm just tossing it out there.

So back on topic, IIRC Apollo 8 was also the mission where they read from Genesis because they were in space over Christmas?  To me, that was epic.  Of course, someone still griped that people were being all religious on the Government's dime.  I wonder if they knew at the time that Buzz Aldrin was going to do the bread and wine thing Catholic style on the surface of the Moon. 

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Buzz Aldrin was going to do the bread and wine thing Catholic style on the surface of the Moon. 

Huh?  I hadn't heard that.  How on earth was he going to pour the wine?  It's as cold as... uhmm... space... it would be frozen.

[unixknight]

38 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Huh?  I hadn't heard that.  How on earth was he going to pour the wine?  It's as cold as... uhmm... space... it would be frozen.

[Vort]

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

Apollo 8 was also the mission where they read from Genesis because they were in space over Christmas?  To me, that was epic.  Of course, someone still griped that people were being all religious on the Government's dime.

I'm sure someone somewhere got his knickers in a knot, but I don't remember a word of complaint. Of course, I was only a little boy, but I assume I would have heard about it at some point.

[Vort]

42 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

How on earth

...someone's missing the concept...

[Midwest LDS]

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

I'm 44.  Dunno if that means anything, I'm just tossing it out there.

So back on topic, IIRC Apollo 8 was also the mission where they read from Genesis because they were in space over Christmas?  To me, that was epic.  Of course, someone still griped that people were being all religious on the Government's dime.  I wonder if they knew at the time that Buzz Aldrin was going to do the bread and wine thing Catholic style on the surface of the Moon. 

That was interesting I just looked it up! But it was actually a Presbyterian thing as he was an Elder in his local church.

[unixknight]

37 minutes ago, Vort said:

I'm sure someone somewhere got his knickers in a knot, but I don't remember a word of complaint. Of course, I was only a little boy, but I assume I would have heard about it at some point.

I remember reading up on how someone did indeed gripe, but it didn't really get much traction.

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, unixknight said:

No, seriously.  I'd never heard of Buzz Aldrin doing communion on the moon.

And I'm just wondering from a technical standpoint how that would even be possible.  Were you just joking?

[unixknight]

1 minute ago, Carborendum said:

No, seriously.  I'd never heard of Buzz Aldrin doing communion on the moon.

And I'm just wondering from a technical standpoint how that would even be possible.  Were you just joking?

No I wasn't.  He had a little kit and did it right there inside the LM.  It was depicted in the From Earth to the Moon miniseries.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, unixknight said:

No I wasn't.  He had a little kit and did it right there inside the LM.  It was depicted in the From Earth to the Moon miniseries.

OK.  So, "on the surface of the moon" didn't necessarily mean "outside the module".  I see.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Guest

[NightSG]

3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

OK.  So, "on the surface of the moon" didn't necessarily mean "outside the module".  I see.

Well, if you do something in your car, it would generally be considered to happen "on Earth."

(Unless you're the guy pretending to be an empty spacesuit in Elon Musk's car.)

[NightSG]

5 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Huh?  I hadn't heard that.  How on earth was he going to pour the wine?  It's as cold as... uhmm... space... it would be frozen.

Think about that one; it started with the same amount of heat in it as everything else around it, convection doesn't work in a vacuum, and conduction is easy to control with fairly primitive insulators.  That leaves only radiation, which is pretty slow at that temperature range; radiative heat sinks require some pretty careful engineering to be able to dump even relatively small amounts of heat effectively in space.

[pam]

I just think spending the billions and billions to go explore other planets is a waste of money.  

[unixknight]

9 hours ago, NightSG said:

Think about that one; it started with the same amount of heat in it as everything else around it, convection doesn't work in a vacuum, and conduction is easy to control with fairly primitive insulators.  That leaves only radiation, which is pretty slow at that temperature range; radiative heat sinks require some pretty careful engineering to be able to dump even relatively small amounts of heat effectively in space.

All true, though of course an open container of wine in a vacuum would instantly boil away, so there's that...

[NightSG]

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

All true, though of course an open container of wine in a vacuum would instantly boil away, so there's that...

It would be rather hard to drink from an open container in a vacuum, but remember total vacuum is only 14 PSI lower than sea level pressure; the boiling quickly lowers the temperature enough to slow the process somewhat. 

[unixknight]

31 minutes ago, NightSG said:

It would be rather hard to drink from an open container in a vacuum, but remember total vacuum is only 14 PSI lower than sea level pressure; the boiling quickly lowers the temperature enough to slow the process somewhat. 

Yeah considering the size of the tiny chalice Aldrin was using, I suspect it would be almost instantaneous

[Guest Scott]

17 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Huh?  I hadn't heard that.  How on earth was he going to pour the wine?  It's as cold as... uhmm... space... it would be frozen.

It wouldn't be frozen if the sun was out.  Temperatures on the moon can reach 260F in the sun.   It's only in the shade that it is very cold.  In sunlight, it's extremely hot.

The wine would have boiled rather than frozen.

Some kinds of wine wouldn't have instantly vaporized, thus you could drink it on the moon-if you hurry.  

[Vort]

1 hour ago, Scott said:

Some kinds of wine wouldn't have instantly vaporized, thus you could drink it on the moon-if you hurry.  

Things move through your GI tract, including when you swallow, by a muscular process called peristalsis. I don't know for sure, but I'm kind of thinking that peristalsis won't work with somebody who is exposed to the vacuum of space.

[Guest Scott]

13 minutes ago, Vort said:

Things move through your GI tract, including when you swallow, by a muscular process called peristalsis. I don't know for sure, but I'm kind of thinking that peristalsis won't work with somebody who is exposed to the vacuum of space.

Vort, here is some light reading about astronauts eating if you are interested:

http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1911617,00.html

At least I find it interesting.  I love space trivia.

Just for fun, here are a few of my favorite trivia questions concerning the solar system.  Hopefully it isn't too off topic.

1.  Which planet can experience winds exceeding 1300 mph?

2.  (This is my favorite trivia question of all time-because it is interesting) .  

Of the four planets in our solar system closest to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), which of those planets have water ice on their surface?

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by Scott

[Vort]

44 minutes ago, Scott said:

Vort, here is some light reading about astronauts eating if you are interested:

http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1911617,00.html

That was fun. Thanks.

45 minutes ago, Scott said:

1.  Which planet can experience winds exceeding 1300 mph?

I would guess *** any of the gas giants. ***

46 minutes ago, Scott said:

2.  (This is my favorite trivia question of all time-because it is interesting) .  

Of the four planets in our solar system closest to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), which of those planets have water ice on their surface?

Hint: *** Not Venus. ***

[Colirio]

17 hours ago, pam said:

I just think spending the billions and billions to go explore other planets is a waste of money.  

 

On the surface (pun intended), I can see why you wouldn't really see the value of taxpayer dollars being used for some "cool" pictures of Mars and day dreams of future space colonies. Seems like we have much larger issues that need to be tackled here on Earth for which the money could be better spent. 

 

I suppose that barely 100 years ago mankind never really conceived of how satellites in orbit would become an integral part of our communications technology, either. Yet here we are. What will space be used for over the next 100 years? Does our nation have a vested interest in being on the forefront of developing those technologies? Should we be content to be beholden to other countries and whether they will be willing to share that technology with us? What if that nation turns out to be an enemy? 

 

Much like exploring oceans in international waters around us, the case can be made that we need to be able to protect our interests, including anticipating problems that surround our lands and borders. If you believe that a national defense is a legitimate use of governmental power, then surely you see the value of protecting our satellites and our nation from the "outer" space immediately surrounding our airspace. This would include threats made by our enemies against our communications systems "up there." 

 

The truth is, the space race is ongoing and is beginning to push further outward. While private companies like Space X are attempting to make profit from these ventures, so far, nobody knows whether they can be successful in the long term. 

[askandanswer]

On 12/22/2018 at 6:59 AM, MormonGator said:

Why should my tax dollars go to space exploration? 

Isn't that what your Counsellor does during your weekly sessions?

[askandanswer]

Surely for those who know how to use a GPS, further exploration is not necessary? Don't we just set the GPS to Mars and then sit back to enjoy the ride?

Edited December 23, 2018 by askandanswer

[Guest Scott]

8 hours ago, Vort said:

That was fun. Thanks.

I would guess *** any of the gas giants. ***

Hint: *** Not Venus. ***

Good hints.

For anyone interested in the answers, the answer to #1 is Neptune.    Winds on Neptune can reach roughly double the speed of sound on earth.  By way of comparison, the winds on Neptune are roughly seven times faster than the most powerful hurricanes on earth.

The answer to #2 is Mercury, Earth, and Mars.   I like this trivia question because Mercury is the planet closest to the sun and temperatures there average 335F and often reach 800F.   Since Mercury has almost no atmosphere though, night temperatures drop as low as -290F.   Ice deep in craters and fissures near the poles survives in areas that are permanently shaded.  Not bad for a planet that hits 800F in the sun.   The difference between sun and shade temperatures by moving a few feet can be more than one thousand degrees.  

[Guest]

On 12/21/2018 at 10:56 PM, NightSG said:

Think about that one; it started with the same amount of heat in it as everything else around it, convection doesn't work in a vacuum, and conduction is easy to control with fairly primitive insulators.  That leaves only radiation, which is pretty slow at that temperature range; radiative heat sinks require some pretty careful engineering to be able to dump even relatively small amounts of heat effectively in space.

In a vacuum, an open container of fluid will result in the fluid vaporizing until the release of the heat of vaporization will freeze the remaining liquid.