Orbiter Screenshot Thread

[misha.physics]

Just Orbiter.

 

[FordPrefect]

America and Challenger fly past over their targeted landing site one revolution before PDI.

 

[MarkWatney2015]

Soyuz 40, the last mission of the second-generation Soyuz spacecraft (7K-T), preparing to dock on the rear port of Salyut 6, at the time staffed by the station's Soyuz T-4 (EO-5) crew

 

[n72.75]

View from Snoopy (LM-4), at the exact second that Eagle (LM-5) touches down on the Moon.

 

[Tycho]

View from Snoopy (LM-4), at the exact second that Eagle (LM-5) touches down on the Moon.

View attachment 27851

Always thought it incredible to know LM-4's ascent stage is still out there, largely intact, after having once been occupied and operated by humans. A time capsule, in a sense.

 

[MarkWatney2015]

Always thought it incredible to know LM-4's ascent stage is still out there, largely intact, after having once been occupied and operated by humans. A time capsule, in a sense.

Simulations in GMAT show that Apollo 11's LEM (Eagle) is possibly still orbiting the Moon, unknowingly jettisoned in one of the "frozen orbits" that also make LRO's orbit not so chaotic for many years

 

[Tycho]

Simulations in GMAT show that Apollo 11's LEM (Eagle) is possibly still orbiting the Moon, unknowingly jettisoned in one of the "frozen orbits" that also make LRO's orbit not so chaotic for many years

News to me. Very cool. Thanks for that.

 

[MarkWatney2015]

Here's the paper that discussed this possibility and even Scott Manley demonstrated it in one of his videos:

 

[jedidia]

Wait, we might have an entire LM in orbit, but we're not sure? That sounds like a major hazard...

 

[gamer19]

Wait, we might have an entire LM in orbit, but we're not sure? That sounds like a major hazard...

we're safe for now
at least until we return to the MOON orbit

 

[Urwumpe]

Shouldn't we be able to detect it? After all, its a pretty big shiny object with very distinct surface properties.

 

[DaveS]

Wait, we might have an entire LM in orbit, but we're not sure? That sounds like a major hazard...

LM-5 is in at least two separate pieces, the Descent Stage on the lunar surface and the Ascent Stage in lunar orbit.

 

[n72.75]

Shouldn't we be able to detect it? After all, its a pretty big shiny object with very distinct surface properties.

In theory yes. Remember that radar return strength falls off in proportion to 1/R^4 though so that would limit you to the very largest of radars and it may need a few orbits to find it if dosnt come over the horizon exactly where you expect it.

 

[Urwumpe]

In theory yes. Remember that radar return strength falls off in proportion to 1/R^4 though so that would limit you to the very largest of radars and it may need a few orbits to find it if dosnt come over the horizon exactly where you expect it.

No just by radar - I mean optically. We can detect much darker smaller asteroids at similar distances than that already. Its just the nearby moon, that causes problems, but would we do something like a long-term observation of the moon, we should detect any bigger object orbiting it....

 

[n72.75]

No just by radar - I mean optically. We can detect much darker smaller asteroids at similar distances than that already. Its just the nearby moon, that causes problems, but would we do something like a long-term observation of the moon, we should detect any bigger object orbiting it....

Oh good point. Just need to convince someone to point a telescope there.

 

[Urwumpe]

Oh good point. Just need to convince someone to point a telescope there.

And do it for a long time... I have an old desktop reflector telescope here for overhaul... maybe I can mod it for such a task. I doubt I can install something into the light path to produce an artificial lunar eclipse, this should improve the quality of the data a lot.

 

[DaveS]

Well, I wish you all the best since not even the HST can resolve any Apollo objects! They're way too small to be resolved even by its 2.4 diameter primary mirror. So unless you have something a few hundred times larger in your backyards, all you are going to see is the usual lunar selenological stuff.

 

[Kyle]

Well, I wish you all the best since not even the HST can resolve any Apollo objects! They're way too small to be resolved even by its 2.4 diameter primary mirror. So unless you have something a few hundred times larger in your backyards, all you are going to see is the usual lunar selenological stuff.

HST is the second* largest optical space telescope, but radar telescopes do have enough resolution capability to observe an Apollo spacecraft (just not one sitting on the Moon).

EDIT: Second largest, still feels like JWST hasn't launched.

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, I wish you all the best since not even the HST can resolve any Apollo objects! They're way too small to be resolved even by its 2.4 diameter primary mirror. So unless you have something a few hundred times larger in your backyards, all you are going to see is the usual lunar selenological stuff.

Because of the bright moon - there is not enough contrast to resolve it, all you can expect is a microscopically different color on a 85 meters large pixel on the lunar surface.

But if you are not looking for an object on the surface, against the dark background, the contrast would be far more favorable. Next, if you collect enough data, instead of looking for a specific object, it would be enough to look for lines in a long-term picture of the lunar neighbourhood.

Yes, that shouldn't be enough to tell that we have found the LM. But it could be enough to catalog objects around the moon and look closer at them. The moon isn't that densely populated with satellites yet. Stars, NEOs and SpaceX sky pollution (tm) should only be annoying.

A night should be enough to detect 3-4 orbits of spacecraft in lunar orbit.

 

[Max-Q]

IF Eagle is still in lunar orbit, any guess as to it's orbital elements today? Might make an interesting mission in Orbiter... Either to visit it, or even recover it for return to Earth.