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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

In the Shadow of the Moon

This was a very good documentary.

From the Movie:

Buzz Aldrin, who made the first landing with Neil Armstrong, to Gene Cernan, who made the last landing in 1972, the producer Sington and his colleagues got 10 Apollo astronauts to share some of their deepest thoughts.

"I called the moon my home for three days of my life, and I'm here to tell you about it," said a pensive Cernan as the camera rolled. Then he shrugged as if he didn't believe himself. "That's -- that's science fiction."

No narration, doesn't need it.

It's all from the lips and hearts of the astronauts themselves, with their own...personal experiences of the mission. From what they felt during liftoff, to their private thoughts and something special that Buzz Aldrin did just before stepping onto the lunar surface. A first!

The accounts of lift off from the astronauts was amazing. The intense vibrations coming from below was overwhelming and made it almost impossible to manipulate controls or push buttons. The explanation of sensing the "Gimbaling" or movements of the rocket motors to keep the Saturn V straight and upright during the liftoff was facinating.

Many of the astronauts were stoic and serious, but others are funny and goofy as in real life. Armstrong choose not to appear in this work, as he declines any interviews regarding the Apollo 11 mission. I wonder why.

At nearly two hours, it wasn't long enough. One could do an entire film on each of the nine lunar missions. There is just too much content to squeeze into just one film. With many special never before seen segments, it's a geeks spacegasm.

I highly recommend it, and it is a certain purchase after it comes out on DVD.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The Chicago Astronomers View "In the Shadow of the Moon"

On Thursday, the 20th of September The Chicago Astronomers assembled to view the 9:40 pm showing of the documentary film of the astronauts own experiences and sentiments on their voyages.

Here we have: Joyce, Fred, Rob, John, Linda, Bill and Myself

I had this nagging question on considering the massive weight of the Saturn V, how was the entire assembly able to not only carry it's own weight sitting on the launch pad, but where is all this tonnage resting. At what points on the bottom of the space craft near the rocket motors, is the booster physically touching and transferring it's weight?

Although I have the detailed DVD set of the Apollo 11 mission, where all aspects of the trip is documented, there is not a sweet shot showing this. In this film we watched together, there was a hint of an answer.

Rob also shared the same thought, but pointed out a possible point of reference in between the motor shields and pointed out a bracket of sorts where it may rest solely on concrete piers. The weight that the bottom booster was asked to carry is mind boggling..and coupled with the stresses and G-forces forced on it...incredible!

I mentioned that in all the high definition satellites orbiting the Moon, Hubble and other sophisticated telescopes...that not a single image has been returned of the post lunar landing sites.

Now, of course, I do not expect to see the flag or footprints resting on the surface, but there should be some photographic evidence of soil disturbance, rover tracks or even long elongated shadows during lunar sunrise of the decent stage. We we told that the moon rang like a bell when the booster was jettisoned and crashed on the surface. Did they all impact on the far side? I dunno, but there should be some impact crater and debris field to view.

If anyone out there has images of the landing sites taken after the fact, I sure would like to view them.

But anyway...

Every astronaut had great content to share, but I thought Alan Bean was the most enjoyable to listen to. With a smile and jocularity in his voice, he shared his joy and enthusiasm...like a kid after his first roller coaster ride. Charlie Duke was also fun to listen to, as he explained the tensions he experienced as CapComm controller during the Apollo 11 mission and his own trip to the Moon.

We all enjoyed the film, and it was a second time for me, enabling me to catch things I missed during the first viewing.

It is a DVD to get when it comes out.

[erikruud]

admin said:

I had this nagging question on considering the massive weight of the Saturn V, how was the entire assembly able to not only carry it's own weight sitting on the launch pad, but where is all this tonnage resting. At what points on the bottom of the space craft near the rocket motors, is the booster physically touching and transferring it's weight?

Joe,

I was watching the documentary "The Race to the Moon" a couple nights ago and there is an animated sequence in it that I think shows the answer. In the part where they talk about Apollo 8, they show an animated sequence and describ how the hold down clamps had to release within milliseconds of each other. In that shot it appears that the piers for the hold down clamps are also providing the main support for the whole Saturn V. There were four of them. They were spaced halfway between the the main engines.

I'm am still trying to find a definitive answer.

[erikruud]

Here are some diagrams: www.apollosaturn.com/modeling/lut/lutdiag.htm

Some photos of the hold down arms
www.apollosaturn.com/markings/500F/500F_8.gif
www.apollosaturn.com/markings/500F/500F_1.gif
www.apollosaturn.com/markings/500F/500F_19.gif

And a couple other interesting crawler sites.
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch13-3.html

history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-6-2.html