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[Chicago Astronomer Joe]

New Website Will Recreate Apollo 11 Moon Mission in real time

40 Years....

I recall that Sunday evening front of my B & W tv when Armstrong and Aldrin stepped on the Moon. An exciting time....but I was too young to fully take in all the minutia of the mission.

But now, I can relive it in realtime.

www.wechoosethemoon.org/

It's flash recreation of the Apollo 11 mission with mixed media inclusion- that will commence on the 16th of July., (Launch day 40 years ago)..and keep track of all events associated with the launch, insertion,landing and return splashdown in actual real time as they occured 40 years ago.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum will launch a new interactive website on July 16, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. (exactly 40 years after the historic launch of the Apollo 11 Moon mission. The website will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, recreating the entire Apollo 11 mission with videos, images, and audio. Visitors can also follow the launch process via Twitter.

A great follow along for all of us NASA geeks - and for those who missed out on it the first time.

[Chicago Astronomer Joe]

Listening in on the Apollo 11 Mission

I logged on late this morning and missed the launch, but am listening to ground control Houston and Apollo communications now. It's nice to hear the familiar comm beeps and nomenclature again.

At 1 Hour and 55 minutes into the mission....They are in Earth orbit and about to burn the the III stage motor for five minutes for Trans lunar injection.

Of course, I won't be listening to all of this for the remainder of the mission, but it's nice to log in every once in a while to see what's going on.

Good thing about this site is that after the landing on the 20th...one can follow along at any point and time at ones leisure.

[Chicago Astronomer Joe]

I have been keeping the Apollo mission on in the background while I work...and I must say...it's very interesting.

Some screen shots of the action

I listened along as they maneuvered to pitch & dock with the LEM. And they do an animation on all the major flight points.

Right now they are having major communication problems at 6,000 nautical miles away from the Earth.

They are pressurizing the LEM now.

I want to see and hear the engine burn for lunar insertion in 58 minutes, but after that...I gotta go!

[Chicago Astronomer Joe]

I have logged in this morning...

...and not much going on at 27 hours into the mission.

Yes...I understand they are coasting toward the Moon now, without much of burns or other course correction manuevers. Every once in awhile there are Houston/Apollo comms on housekeeping measures and other minutia.

It's all cool.

Also,

I'm reading new book called "Rocketmen", the story of the Moon missions, primarily Apollo 11.

Very insightful and interesting....like listening to the Micrometeorites hitting the Mylar on the lunar lander while they were trying to sleep....and how uncertain the Apollo 11 crew was in achieving the mission goal.

I have a interview with author Craig Nelson on his book, this afternoon for the Chicago Astronomer.

Review, pics and interview soon.

[Chicago Astronomer Joe]

I have noticed that when I log in this site, my double core Turion Laptop gets warm and kicks out a lot of heat via the exhaust port.

It must be processing the constant audio stream and using a lot of cycles and packets.

But now at 44 hours into the mission, and 5:00 am Chicago time...the comm talk is dead.

But, I am very pleased on the LRO's images of the Lunar landing sites:

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