If we assume that America really did land on the moon, how the f**k did they manage to get back again.
A space shuttle has a big fuel tank on the front and two smaller ones, the big one is disconnected after reaching through the atmosphere, the other two smaller ones are to get to the destination.
Once they landed, how the hell did they get back with no fuel, through two atmospheres (the moon's, and re-entering earth's orbit), and the distance involved, with no fuel, and this was supposed to have happened in the 60's?
Only serious answers please,
Many thanks in advance...
2007-10-04 02:46:31 · 5 answers · asked by darrenleedavis 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
To the person who thought this was a stupid question...
Do you think i would have asked it if i knew all that already, and if you think this questions stupid you should see some of the others....
Thank you for all your input all the same....
2007-10-04 04:42:08 · update #1
Not "supposed" to happen - it really did happen. The debunkers and moon landing conspiracy people are just wrong.
They took fuel with them, of course. The moon lander was a lot smaller, so they didn't need nearly as much fuel. Plus they were landing and taking off from THE MOON, which has only 1/6th the gravity, so it doesn't need as powerful a rocket to let it land and take off.
Also, the moon doesn't have an atmosphere. It's a vacuum, so there's no resistance from that.
Finally, coming back through the earth's atmosphere HELPED the astronauts. It acted as a brake. They were moving at thousands of miles an hour, and they needed more than just parachutes to slow them down. The heatshield protected them as they plowed through the air.
2007-10-04 02:57:16 · answer #1 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The space shuttle has two solid rocket boosters and the main engines, fuelled by the contents of the external tank, required to get the orbiter to orbit. The orbiter is BIG. It is by far the largest US spacecraft, and is considerably larger than Apollo.
The Saturn V launched the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. Now, where do you get the notion that they had no fuel after the landing? The Apollo spacecraft carried fuel required to brake into lunar orbit, and enough to break out of lunar orbit again, and it was considerably smaller and lighter than the shuttle orbiter.
The lunar module was a two-stage vehicle. The descent stage carried fuel and a rocket engine for only one purpose: bringing the lander from orbit to the surface. Once on the surface, the ascent stage had enough fuel to get back into lunar orbit to dock with the orbiting spacecraft. It didn't need anything like the amount the shuttle uses, because it only had to lift itself, a small, lightweight structure, and two men against 1/6th gravity to get to lunar orbit, and there is no atmosphere on the Moon to produce drag on the accelerating craft (which is what allowed it to be so lightweight in the first place). After docking and transfer of the crew to the Apollo spacecraft, the LM was jetissoned and the spacecraft fired its engine to get out of lunar orbit. Once that is done, very little if any fuel is required. The occasional course correction maybe, but that's all.
Getting back into Earth's atmosphere requires no fuel whatsoever. It just hits the atmosphere at full pelt at just the right angle that the friction slows it down for a safe landing.
I'd really love to know why you think they had no fuel in their spacecraft. I'd suggest a little research on Apollo. Wikipedia is a good place to start.
2007-10-04 10:25:51 · answer #2 · answered by Jason T 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A. The Moon has no real atmosphere.
B. The Lunar Lander takes its own fuel .It was a completely separate spacecraft. The escape velocity of the Moon is only 1/6th of Earths so they needed much less fuel.
C. They coast to the Moons orbit and when leaving they made a thrust burn and then coasted back to Earth orbit. That's why the trip takes 3 days each way.
Before you ask silly questions, it is always a good idea to do a little bit of research.
2007-10-04 11:07:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most of the fuel for the return trip was left in orbit around the Moon with the command module.
Getting down from above the atmosphere requires no fuel whatsoever---just some way of getting rid of the large amount of heat generated by air resistance. Basically, they glided (or dropped) part of the way, then used a parachute.
2007-10-04 10:02:48 · answer #4 · answered by cosmo 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The space shuttle didn't go to the Moon, a Saturn V launch vehicle did. It contained all of the fuel needed for the trip there and back.
By the way, the Moon doesn't have an atmosphere.
2007-10-04 09:54:25 · answer #5 · answered by Bobby 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋