66 replies to this topic

[Saru]

What would have happened if the Apollo 11 crew had been unable to take off from the lunar surface ?

Discovery News said:

Ascending from the lunar surface was one of the most important maneuvers on the mission; any problems could leave Aldrin and Armstrong stranded on the moon with no way home. It was a gruesome scenario, but not impossible. In the unlikely event this lunar disaster did happen, NASA had a plan in place.

Read more...

[Eldorado]

Saru, on 24 July 2012 - 09:33 AM, said:

What would have happened if the Apollo 11 crew had been unable to take off from the lunar surface ?

The Cold War would have ended, cos everyone in the Soviet Union and Red China would have died laughing.

[Habitat]

Awww.....lemme think....the CT's would have been suspecting Aldrin and Armstrong of being spirited off to an undisclosed country, with new identities, even before the air ran out on the moon lander ?

[ZaraKitty]

Couldn't michael collins pick them up? They should have packed cyanide pills.

[Habitat]

ZaraKitty, on 24 July 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

Couldn't michael collins pick them up? They should have packed cyanide pills.

They would have had something of the kind, I suspect.

[Super-Fly]

No way to go!

[King Fluffs]

If it had been stranded Michael Bay would have made a movie about it that contains explosions every 5 and a half seconds.

[Device]

Gloomy stuff. But, people put their faith in machines everyday. Airplanes, for example.

Still, it would have been a big blow for the U.S and the world. For manned space flight.

Oh, well.

[Majikwayz]

I want to see us go back and setup a some kind of functioning robotic moonbase/observatory. I know we just sent up new satelittes and china is planning a manned mission ....(http://io9.com/58726...aut-to-the-moon)

[iluthradanar]

No contingency plan? How about some sort of package dropped off prior to astronaut arrival, with some sort of emergency shelter, food and water. of course, that might just prolong the inevitable since they had no ability to pick them up.

[jbondo]

The risks they took during Apollo 11 would be unheard of today. In the same scenario today, they would have never left the earth, let alone land on the moon. Just goes to show you the pressure felt to beat the Russians and the overwhelming bravery of those astronauts.

In those days, Aldrin and Armstrong were rock stars! Today, hero worship involves Kardashians or some guy with the word "ice" in his name.

[pallidin]

Great article. I did not know Nixon had a prepared speech.
Also, the very last part of the article is someting I was wondering about from the beginning. Should they have been stranded and died, it would be somewhat odd to look up at the moon, even today, and not think about 2 dead men there.
Well, at least for me anyway... I was around during the Apollo launches.

[mushymopman]

did you not see capricorn 1

[Darkwind]

It was in the back of my young mind they might be on a one way trip. Nobody ever said space is safe.  Future space tourists should keep that in mind.

[Rafterman]

Wow, pretty heavy stuff to think about, but that's what going into space was/is all about - even today.

And again, stuff like this continues to blow holes in the idiocy of the moon conspiracists.