The moon is the closest celestial body to Earth, its average distance is 384,403 km. The first satellite to fly with the moon was Luna 1 from Russia, launched on January 2, 1959. Ten and a half years later, the Apollo 11 mission landed Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Getting to the moon was a daunting task. (according to John F. Kennedy) requires the best of energy and skill.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Planning a Trip
Step 1. Plan the trip in stages
Although popular science fiction is told that it only takes a rocket ship to do everything, in fact the rocket ship is broken into several parts: to reach low Earth orbit, to transfer from Earth to lunar orbit, to land on the moon, and to reverse all these steps. to return to Earth.
- Some science fiction stories depict a more realistic story of going to the moon by taking astronauts to an orbiting space station. There a small rocket attached will take astronauts to the moon and back to the station. However, this method was not used because of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union; The Skylab, Salyut, and International Space Station space stations were founded after the Apollo project ended.
- The Apollo project used a three-stage Saturn V rocket. The lowest stage lifts the rocket from the runway to an altitude of 68 km, the second stage pushes the rocket almost into low Earth orbit, and the third stage pushes it into orbit and then towards the moon.
- The Constellation project proposed by NASA to return to the moon in 2018 consists of two two-stage rockets. There are two first-stage rocket designs: Ares I, a crew lift stage consisting of one five-segment rocket booster, and Ares V, a crew and cargo lift stage consisting of five rocket engines under external fuel tanks plus two five solid rocket boosters. -segment. The second stage for both versions uses a single liquid fuel engine. The heavy-duty assembly will carry the lunar orbital capsule and lander, where astronauts will be transported when the two rocket systems dock.
Step 2. Pack up for the trip
Since the moon has no atmosphere, you must carry your own oxygen to breathe there, and when you walk around the lunar surface, you must wear a space suit to protect against the scorching heat of the two weeks of daylight and the freezing cold of the sky. at night, not to mention the radiation and micrometeors that enter the moon's surface atmosphere.
- You also need food. Most food consumed by astronauts must be freeze-dried and concentrated to reduce weight, then dissolved by adding water before eating. Astronauts should also eat a high-protein diet to minimize the amount of waste the body produces after eating.
- Everything you take into space adds weight and increases the amount of fuel and rockets that carry it into space, so you shouldn't take too much personal stuff into space. The weight on the moon is 6 times greater than the weight on Earth.
Step 3. Determine the launch opportunity
Launch probability is the time span for launching a rocket from Earth in order to land in a desired area on the moon, as long as there is sufficient light to explore the landing area. Launch odds are actually defined in two ways, monthly odds and daily odds.
- Monthly odds take advantage of landing area plans related to Earth and sun. Since Earth's gravity forces the moon to face its same side to Earth, exploratory missions are defined in the region of the Earth-facing side to allow radio communication between Earth and the moon. The time chosen is when the sun shines on the landing area.
- Daily opportunities take advantage of launch conditions, such as the angle at which the spacecraft launches, the performance of the rocket booster, and the ship's presence from launch to track the progress of the rocket's flight. Previously, the light conditions for launching the aircraft were also important because during the day it would be easier to monitor the cancellation on the launch pad or before it reached orbit, as well as the ability to document the cancellation photos. Daylight launches are less necessary because NASA has more control over mission monitoring; Apollo 17 was launched at night.
Part 2 of 3: To the Moon
Step 1. Prepare to take off
Ideally, a rocket headed for the moon should be launched vertically to take advantage of Earth's rotation to help achieve orbital velocity. However, NASA's Apollo project made it possible to take off at an angle of 18 degrees in any direction vertically without much interference with the launch.
Step 2. Reach low Earth orbit
In order to escape Earth's gravitational pull, there are two velocities to consider: the escape velocity and the orbital velocity. Escape velocity is the speed required to completely escape the planet's gravity, while orbital velocity is the speed required to enter orbit around the planet. The escape velocity for the Earth's surface is about 25,000 mph (40,248 km/s), while the orbital velocity at the surface is about 18,000 mph (7.9 km/s). The energy to reach the orbital velocity is less than the escape velocity.
Furthermore, the number of orbital and escape velocities decreases as you continue to move away from the Earth's surface. The escape velocity is about 1,414 (square root of 2) times the orbital velocity
Step 3. Switch to the translunar trajectory
After reaching low Earth orbit and confirming that all systems on the ship are working, it's time to activate the thrusters and head to the moon.
- On the Apollo project, this was done by firing a final three-stage thruster to propel the spacecraft to the moon. Along the way, the Command/Service Module (command/service module, abbreviated CSM) separated from the third stage, turned around, and docked with the Lunar Excursion Module (lunar excursion module, abbreviated LEM) which was carried at the top of the third stage.
- Project Constellation plans to launch a crewed rocket and a command capsule dock into low Earth orbit using the departing stage and lunar lander carried by a cargo rocket. The departing stage will then fire boosters and send the spacecraft to the moon.
Step 4. Reach lunar orbit
Once the spacecraft enters the moon's gravity, fire a booster to slow it down and place it in orbit around the moon.
Step 5. Switch to the lunar lander
Project Apollo and Project Constellation have separate orbital and landing modules. The Apollo command module required one of three astronauts to be at the pilot's helm, while the other two astronauts boarded the lunar module. Project Constellation's orbital capsule is designed to be automated, so that all four astronauts can board the lunar lander, if necessary.
Step 6. Descend to the surface of the moon
Since the moon has no atmosphere, rockets are used to slow the lunar lander to a speed of about 160 km/h. This is to ensure a perfect and smooth landing so as to ensure all passengers are safe. Ideally, the planned landing surface should be free of large rocks; this is the reason why the Sea of Tranquility was chosen as the Apollo 11 landing site.
Step 7. Explore
After landing on the moon, it's time to take one small step and explore the lunar surface. While you're there, you can collect moon rock and dust for analysis on Earth, and if you take a folding lunar rover like those on the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions, you can drive on the lunar surface up to 18 km/h. o'clock. (The lunar rover is battery-powered and does not use engine revs because there is no air there to deliver the engine revs sound.)
Part 3 of 3: Back to Earth
Step 1. Pack up and go home
Once your lunar work is done, pack up all the samples and equipment and hop on to the lunar lander to head home.
The Apollo lunar module was designed in two stages: a descending stage to land on the moon and an ascent stage to lift astronauts back into lunar orbit. The descending stage was left on the moon (as well as the lunar rover)
Step 2. Get closer to the orbiting ship
The Apollo command module and the Constellation orbital capsule were designed to take astronauts from the moon back to Earth. The contents of the lunar lander were transferred to the orbiter, then the lunar lander separated and finally fell back to the moon.
Step 3. Return to Earth
The main thrusters in the Apollo and Constellation service modules were fired to escape the moon's gravity, and the spacecraft was directed back toward Earth. Entering Earth's gravity, the service module's thrusters are pointed toward Earth and fired again to slow down the command capsule before being discharged.
Step 4. Prepare to land
The capsule's command module/heat shield is exposed to protect astronauts from atmospheric heat. As the ship enters the thicker part of Earth's atmosphere, the parachute is opened to slow the capsule's speed.
- On the Apollo project, the command module plunged into the sea just like NASA's previous completed manned mission, and was recovered by a Navy ship. The command module is not reused.
- Project Constellation plans to land on land, as the Soviet manned space mission had done. If land is not possible, then an alternative landing at sea is used. The command capsule is designed to be repaired by replacing its heat shield, then reused.
