Some say of going to the Moon - "Been There, Done That!"

While waiting to see where we might be going in space, I thought I would view some of how we got to the Moon and now just glibly say,"Been There, Done That!"

I have a 2 DVD set, "MISSION TO THE MOON - COLLECTOR'S EDITION" that was produced by Mark Gray at Spacecraft Films back in 2005. The set is made up of MIT B/W short films that were produced for TV back in the 60's and an Apollo 4 launch in color.

Today with all the computing power we have in our home computers and smart phones, we may well forget how much we had to build to test what we were building to take astronauts to the Moon. There was much testing of what kind of foods could be used that would supply the necessary nutrients but limit the weight and storage requirements.

The astronauts were subjected to numerous tests since we didn't know how the body would react in zero 'g' or 1/6 'g' on the Moon.

It was with a smile that I watched the old B/W movies and clothing styles as the presentation proceeded. Also, back in the 60's you had a lot of knobs, switches and mechanical devices that were big and bulky and yet machines were used to wire computer boards and test, and test, and test the equipment that was to go to the Moon. It was Interesting to see what was expected to happen while still five years before we lifted off for the Moon in July of 1969.
- LRK -

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http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000E5OABG/boxedupcom-20
Mission to the Moon
Director: Mark Gray Rating: NR (Not Rated) Format:

Price: $34.99
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5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Documentary, January 27, 2006
By Laurenc SVITOK (Bratislava Slovakia) -

This review is from: Mission to the Moon (DVD)
This two disc set "suffers" maybe from being released in the same time as fantastic and long expected Mercury set, however, it has its place in space history library. Spacecraft Films left the usual process of creating the own documentary and just used ten original NASA (Apollo 4) or for NASA produced short movies (M.I.T. Science Reporter set). All nine M.I.T.movies are slightly below thirty minutes and are black&white, Apollo 4 is fifteen minutes and in colour. All material is mainly related to the Apollo moon programm.
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What got me thinking of the past was a note from Fred about a simulation of a possible trip to Venus back in 1971 using a Saturn. There is a nice YouTube presentation based on study that was one of several being conducted at Bellcomm and in Manned Space Flight whose purpose was to give guidance to the Apollo Applications Program's technical objectives by focusing on a longer range goal.

Here is what Fred sent.
- LRK -

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Hi Larry,

I found this interesting...forward to your list if you do too! A flyby of Venus using the Apollo spacecraft was once studied. (The authors must have been very sad about Apollo 1 when they published this on February 1, 1967). Now the mission profile has been illustrated with a video.

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790072165_1979072165.pdf
MANNED VENUS FLYBY
February 1, 1967
M. S. Feldman
L. A. Ferrara
F. L. Havenstein
J. E. Volonte
P. H. Whipple
ABSTRACT
"This study is one of several being conducted at Bellcomm and in Manned Space Flight whose purpose is to give guidance to the Apollo Applications Program's technical objectives by focusing on a longer range goal. The assumed mission in this case is a three-man flyby of Venus launched in November, 1973 on a single standard Saturn V. The selected flight configuration includes a Command and Service Module similar in some respects to Apollo, an Environmental Support Module which occupies the adapter area and a spent S-IVB stage which is utilized for habitable volume and structural support of a solar cell electrical power system. The total injected weight, 106,775 lbs., is within the capability of a single Saturn V of the early 1970's. The study is focused on the selection of subsystem technologies appropriate to long duration flight. The conclusions are reported in terms of the technical characteristics to be achieved as part of the Apollo Applications Program's long duration objectives."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYpIHsZ3AdA
Manned Venus Flyby - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2006
rseferino
April 05, 2010
"The most complicated mission that I fly. Complex for the thin margins to maintain the original plan. Me to continue the numbers and me to finish with a ship flying over the planet Venus and returning to the Earth. My sincere admiration for people that 43 years before they calculated this mission and they made few errors...."

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The PDF file is 177 pages of a lot of information on how you would plan for a mission to Venus. The YouTube demo is well done as well. Bellcomm says this is one of several studies.
- LRK -
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http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/documents/NTRS/collection3/NASA_CR_152853.pdf

http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/bellcomm/bci_frames.html
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/bellcomm/bci_sec_1.html

http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/bellcomm/bci_sec_3.html
Bellcomm, Inc was a subsidiary of the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) established in 1963 for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bellcomm was originally organized to provide NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight with technical and management advice for the Manned Space Flight Program. As the NASA-Bellcomm relationship evolved, the latter became directly responsible for systems engineering and analysis and assisted in the overall spacecraft integration for the Apollo program. Bellcomm's Technical Library provided company personnel with immediate access to technical reports and studies dealing with a wide variety of topic affecting the American space program. When the Apollo Program ended in 1972 the company also ceased operation and the library was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM).

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Fred was interested in the YouTube presentation as he is working on YouTube presentations that help us remember the Apollo missions. I asked him to keep me in the loop in what he is doing and Fred sent this response.
- LRK -

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Hi Larry,

Here is my YouTube link which has lots of space history and future videos, plus my music videos and other favorite music and songs.

www.youtube.com/SkySights

Here is a new music video tribute to the Apollo work force. I used NASA's film with permission and added my original music. This is in two parts since YouTube has a ten-minute limit. The music was done separately, and I found that it fits well with imagining working on Apollo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_EirMy1jQo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqcoTYdosYc
When We Flew to the Moon - Part 1 and 2 (Original)
This video tells the story of a day at work building a Moon ship, the Saturn V. It is a tribute to the Apollo Program work force. "General Pre-Launch Activity at Kennedy - Part 1 and 2" silent film courtesy NASA, used with permission. Original music "When We Flew to the Moon" by Fred Becker.

Fred
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I hope there is more meaning to going to the Moon than just - "Been There, Done That!"

I don't see that we have set up a Lunar Colony or made much use of the resources on the Moon.

I hope we don't do an Apollo type three day landing on Mars and then decide to wait another 40 years to try again.

I would hope that a plan is developed that has the ultimate goal of making it possible for humans to survive in more environments than just on mother Earth. Waiting.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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David S. F. Portree wrote a mongraph that lists Fifty Years of Mission Planning
1950 - 2000

http://history.nasa.gov/monograph21.pdf
Monographs in Aerospace History #21
NASA SP-2001-4521

Humans to Mars
Fifty Years of Mission Planning,
1950–2000

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Will man ever go to Mars? I am sure he will—but it will be a century or more before he’s ready. In that time scientists and engineers will learn more about the physical and mental rigors of interplanetary flight—and about the unknown dangers of life on another planet. Some of that information may become available within the next 25 years or so, through the erection of a space station above the Earth . . . and through the subsequent exploration of the [M]oon. (Wernher von Braun, 1954)1

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More than 1,000 piloted Mars mission studies were conducted inside and outside NASA between about 1950 and 2000. Many were the product of NASA and industry study teams, while others were the work of committed individuals or private organizations. Due to space limitations, only 50 mission studies (one per year, or less than 5 percent of the total) are described in this monograph. The studies included are believed to be representative of most of the technologies and techniques associated with piloted Mars exploration.2
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Preface
1. Edward Ezell, “Man on Mars: The Mission That NASA Did Not Fly” (paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting, Houston,
Texas, 3-8 January 1979), p. 24.
2. Readers seeking additional information on Mars planning are directed to the author’s Web site Romance to Reality (http://members.aol.com/dsfportree explore.htm), which contains over 250 annotations of Moon and Mars planning documents, with more added regularly.

[Note: Romance to Reality was moved to here, which now has been retired. -LRK -
http://www.marsinstitute.info/rd/faculty/dportree/rtr/

Newer work by D.S.F. Portree http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/ and
http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/ ]
- LRK -

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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The Curious Case of Martian Methane - Sky and Telescope News Blog

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http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/37667714.html
The Curious Case of Martian Methane

Those of you old enough to have lived through the 1960s might remember
comedian Bill Dana's routine involving "Jose Jimenez," the first
astronaut in space. When asked whether there might be life on Mars,
the reluctant space pioneer replied, "Maybe . . . if I land on a
Saturday night."

Be honest: deep down inside, don't you wish that life of some kind
exists (or at least once existed) on Mars? Whether you do or don't,
the news today out of NASA's Washington headquarters would really have
piqued Jose's interest.
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The above blog is a nice read and has some good thoughts about the
below announcement.
- LRK -

The Red Planet is Not a Dead Planet 1.15.2009
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15jan_marsmethane.htm?list965414

When you read the Sky and Telescope News Blog also consider the length
of time it takes to develop a mission and then how long it takes to
actually fly the mission. I think you almost have to sign on to these
projects back when you are getting your doctorate and then spend the
rest of your career working and waiting and working and waiting.

Put a sensor on a new rover destined for Mars. Rover launch gets put
off until 2011 and by then I will have less hair on my head. :-(
Maybe you have read about the development of the present Mars Rovers
and listened to the Squyres.

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http://www.marstoday.com/viewpr.html?pid=15601
Reports Detail NASA Rover Discoveries of Wet Martian History

http://vivo.cornell.edu/individual/vivo/individual5700
Squyres, Steven Weldon

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/mer_ready_030513.html
All Systems Go: The Mars Exploration Rovers are Ready for Launch
By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 07:00 am ET 13 May 2003
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Prepare your students for the long haul and Make It So!

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.html
Martian Methane Reveals the Red Planet is not a Dead Planet

Mars today is a world of cold and lonely deserts, apparently without
life of any kind, at least on the surface. Worse still, it looks like
Mars has been cold and dry for billions of years, with an atmosphere
so thin, any liquid water on the surface quickly boils away while the
sun's ultraviolet radiation scorches the ground.

But there is evidence of a warmer and wetter past -- features
resembling dry riverbeds and minerals that form in the presence of
water indicate water once flowed through Martian sands. Since liquid
water is required for all known forms of life, scientists wonder if
life could have risen on Mars, and if it did, what became of it as the
Martian climate changed.

New research reveals there is hope for Mars yet. The first definitive
detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates the planet is
still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense, according to a
team of NASA and university scientists.

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http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15jan_marsmethane.htm?list965414

Jan. 15, 2009: Mars today is a world of cold and lonely deserts,
apparently without life of any kind, at least on the surface. Indeed
it looks like Mars has been cold and dry for billions of years, with
an atmosphere so thin, any liquid water on the surface quickly boils
away while the sun's ultraviolet radiation scorches the ground.

The situation sounds bleak, but research published today in Science
Express reveals new hope for the Red Planet. The first definitive
detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates that Mars is
still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense, according to a
team of NASA and university scientists.

"Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety
of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the
northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is
releasing the gas," says lead author Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center. "At northern mid-summer, methane is released at a
rate comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil
Point in Santa Barbara, Calif."
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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_life_050216.html
Exclusive: NASA Researchers Claim Evidence of Present Life on Mars
By Brian Berger
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 16 February 2005
02:09 pm ET

WASHINGTON -- A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space
officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong
evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and
sustained by pockets of water.

The scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA's Ames Research
Center in Silicon Valley, told the group that they have submitted
their findings to the journal Nature for publication in May, and their
paper currently is being peer reviewed.

What Stoker and Lemke have found, according to several attendees of
the private meeting, is not direct proof of life on Mars, but methane
signatures and other signs of possible biological activity remarkably
similar to those recently discovered in caves here on Earth.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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FIVE YEARS ON MARS Sunday, November 2 @8PM ET/PT

Received an e-mail from Minjae Ormes (see below) with info on upcoming National Geographic Channel programs she thought you folks might be interested in.

Nice to see the Lunar programs starting to be mentioned as well as the very successful Mars missions.

If you watch the programs, let me know what you think.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================

Hello Mr. Kellogg -

My name is Minjae Ormes and I am working with National Geographic Channel to promote their programs and interactive features online. I came upon your writings on To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond while researching folks in the science community who might be interested in some of our upcoming programs, and wanted to reach out to you.

The following are three programs that I thought might be of interest to you and your readers. I would be happy to send you additional information if you are interested, including some photos/videos:

*FIVE YEARS ON MARS
Sunday, November 2 @8PM ET/PT*

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/five-years-on-mars-3963/Overview

National Geographic Channel talks to the scientists behind NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, about the legendary feats and obstacles the Rovers have overcome.

*CALLING ALL ALIENS
Sunday, November 2 @10PM ET/PT*

National Geographic Channel takes you behind-the-scenes at the California-based Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, where new techniques and remarkable technologies are being put in place to find the real E.T.

*DIRECT FROM THE MOON (Part of the Expedition Week, November 16 – 23)
*Monday, November 17 @9PM ET/PT

Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin enthralled the nation when they became the first men to land on the moon. Nearly 40 years later, lunar exploration has returned to the headlines as scientists are uncovering a treasure trove of information from the moon about the birth of our solar system. Now, high-definition video of the moon's surface is being beamed directly back from just above the moon, unveiling the astonishing lunar terrain in spectacular detail thanks to Kaguya, a Japanese lunar orbiter launched in September 2007. Custom-built to map the lunar surface and measure the moon's magnetic and gravitational fields, Kaguya will also allow scientists to perform pioneering analysis, setting the groundwork for future missions to the moon and a prolonged lunar base. We also hear directly from Aldrin as he watches breathtaking images of the moon's craters, haunting plains and an actual "full Earth-rise." Then, NASA scientists discuss the challenges involved and innovations under way for establishing a lunar outpost. *Direct from the Moon* features images so powerful, some scientists claim they will inspire the next generation of lunar exploration.

Also, below is the full press release for *Five Years on Mars* and *Calling All Aliens*. Please let me know if you would like more information on any or all of these programs.

Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Minjae

--
Minjae Ormes l Digital Consultant
http://www.minjaeormes.com
[e] minjae.ormes@gmail.com [c] 917.539.7646

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*NEWS* *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*


*NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL TAKES YOU ON REAL-LIFE ADVENTURES TO THE RED PLANET AND THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE! *

*Like Pixar's /Wall-E/, Join the Adventures of Spirit & Opportunity*

*Two Robotic Rovers Making History While Exploring the Surface of Mars, *

*And Then Join the Out-of-This-World Quest to Make Contact with ET*

* *

Five Years on Mars * Premieres Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 8 PM ET/PT*

Calling All Aliens * Premieres Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 10 PM ET/PT***

(*WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 22, 2008*) This November, let the National Geographic Channel take you on two real Space Age adventures — to the Red Planet and beyond!

It could be the basis for a sequel to the Pixar sci-fi movie Wall-E, except this is the real-life odyssey of two robots. On Sunday, November 2, 2008, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, NGC brings the adventures of solar-powered robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity to the screen in *Five Years on Mars*, a vivid high-definition visualization of their parallel missions on either side of the Red Planet. Using photo-realistic animation based on the actual landscape as captured by the rovers' cameras, the one-hour special dramatizes the trials and tribulations of these intrepid explorers while highlighting new scientific information on the planet's geology and water history.

Launched in 2003, Spirit and Opportunity were originally expected to collect data over 90 Martian days, called "sols." What began as a short-term science mission looking for evidence of ancient water has turned into one of the greatest adventures of the Space Age. After almost five years in operation, they have astonishingly survived, proving more resilient and luckier than anyone could have predicted. They've trekked miles across hostile plains, climbed mountains, ventured in and out of deep craters, gotten stuck in sand dunes, survived dust storms and mechanical failures, and cheated death so often no one will venture a guess as to how much longer they might last.

*Five Years on Mars* captures the emotional highs and lows experienced by the scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., who spend their days seeing through the rovers' eyes and now think of Spirit and Opportunity in almost human terms. Spirit is the hard luck rover who trekked for months across a barren desert, scaled a mountain and lost a wheel before finding anything of scientific interest. Opportunity is the lucky one for whom everything has gone right from the moment it landed right on top of abundant evidence of early Martian water.

"It was like being inside this bizarre Martian mystery novel," says Steve Squyres, lead scientist, JPL. "Every sol or two you'd get a new clue handed to you, and it really improved our understanding of what we were dealing with here."

Later that same night, on November 2, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, venture even further into space and see the remarkable ways scientists are searching for extraterrestrial life in *Calling All Aliens*. From building the most sensitive "ear" of all time — the massive Allen Telescope Array — to sending interstellar CD and text messages, there are myriad ways to try to make contact.

The one-hour special takes viewers to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, Calif., where scientists have activated 42 out of the planned 350 giant radio dishes that make up the Allen Telescope Array. SETI never had a dedicated instrument like this to use in the search for ET 24/7 — until now. Funded in part by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the dishes collect datastreams from outer space that are then analyzed to determine if they carry any unusual frequencies. Monitoring computers alert the scientific team when a particularly strong signal comes through … but so far nothing has led them to believe that ET is trying to phone Earth.

Jodie Foster's character in the movie Contact was based on Jill Tarter, director of the Allen Telescope Array project and considered the "Grande Dame" of SETI research. SETI lost funding from NASA and Congress back in 1993, and they are now a nonprofit organization counting on donations like Paul Allen's … and anyone who wants to buy a telescope in the array.

"You can buy a telescope and have your name on it," says Tarter. "The price tag is $100,000. That's a big number in some sense, but a very small number for a radio telescope!"

SETI astronomer Seth Shostak, who hosts a weekly radio show called "Are We Alone?," is very optimistic about his colleagues' ingenuity in undertaking the search and about the advancements in technology.

"Our galaxy has a few hundred billion star systems, so it doesn't surprise that me we haven't found other intelligent life yet," says Shostak. "But the search is speeding up, and I think everybody deep down inside wishes that the experiment would succeed while they're still around to see that happen."

In Florida, one company claims it can make that happen for just $299. For that price, anyone can send a CD, text or music message out into space using a radio transmission device. Across the globe in Moscow, radio engineer Alexander Zaitsev, in conjunction with METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence), has sent several messages into space on a directive from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Also in Russia, they are planning to take it a step further by sending samples of human DNA into space to show what we're made of to any highly intelligent life forms out there.

But not everyone is eager to make contact. Author David Brin thinks it is dangerous to try to communicate to a life form that we have no real knowledge of. He fears ET will come to annihilate the human race.

"I'm not claiming that there are a million deadly horrible probes out there," says Brin. "But there is no proof that there are not."

Also on November 2, in between *Five Years on Mars* and *Calling All Aliens*, catch an encore presentation of *Naked Science: Life on Mars *at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Join NASA's Phoenix Mission to determine if life could have existed — or can exist — on our closest planetary neighbor.

*Five Years on Mars* is produced by Mark Davis Productions for the National Geographic Channel. For Mark Davis Productions, producer, writer and director is Mark Davis. For the National Geographic Channel executive producer is Howard Swartz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

*Calling All **Aliens* is produced by VIDICOM in association with ARTE/ZDF, Channel 5 Russia, SBS TV Australia and co-produced with SPIEGEL TV and Corona Films St. Petersburg. Executive producer is Peter Bardehle and director is Christian Schidlowski. For the National Geographic Channel, producer is Lauren Cardillo, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

# # #


Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary in January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD, which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high-definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to more than 68 million homes. For more information, please visit www.natgeotv.com .


NGC-472-102208

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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